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EXPOSITIONS  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE 


Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture 

A  Commentary  on  the  Entire  Bible, 
to  be  Completed  in  Thirty  Volumes 

ALEXANDER  MACLAREN,  P.P.,  LIT.D. 

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Nehemiah        Esther         Job         Proverbs     .,  Ecclesiastes 


THE  ACTS 
OF    THE    APOSTLES 

CHAPTER  XIII.  TO  END 


BY 

ALEXANDER    MACLAREN 

D.D.,  LiTT.D. 


NEW  YORK 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  AND  SON 

3  &  5  WEST  EIGHTEENTH  STREET 

LONDON:  HODDER  AND  STOUGHTON 

MCMVin 


CONTENTS 


rAOB 

To  THB  Regions  Beyond  (Acts  xiii.  1-13)    .            «  «        1 

Why  Saul  became  Paul  (Acts  xiii.  9)       •             .  •        7 

John  Mark  (Acts  xiii.  13)     ,             «            •            •  •       17 

The  First  Preaching  in  Asia  Minor  (Acts  xiii.  26-39)  .       27 

Luther— A  Stone  on  the  Cairn  (Acts  xiii.  36,  37)  •82 

Rejecters  and  Receivers  (Acts  xiii.  44-52 ;  xiv,  1-7)  •       4B 

Unworthy  of  Life  (Acts  xiii.  46)   ,             .             .  •62 

•Full  of  the  Holy  Ghost'  (Acts xiii.  52)             .  ,66 

Deified  and  Stoned  (Acts  xiv.  11-22)          .             t  .65 

Dream  and  Reality  (Acts  xiv.  11)              •            ■  •      72 

*  The  Door  OF  Faith' (Acts  xiv.  27)            •            t  .77 

The  Breaking  out  of  Discord  (Acts  xv.  1-6)        •  •       79 


VI 


ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


The  Charter  op  Gentile  Liberty  (Acts  xv.  12-29) 


83 


A  Good  Man's  Faults  (Acts  xv.  37,  38)       . 


91 


How  TO  Secure  a  Prosperous  Voyage  (Acts  xvi.  10, 11)        97 


Paul  at  Philippi  (Acts  xvi.  13,  R.V.) 


105 


The  Riot  at  Philippi  (Acts  xvi.  19-34)        , 


.      114 


The   Great    Question   and    the    Plain  Answer   (Acts 

xvi.  30, 31)       .  .  .  .  ,  .     122 


Thessalonica  and  Berea  (Acts  xvii,  1-12) 


Paul  at  Athens  (Acts  xvii.  22-34) 


The  Man  who  is  Judge  (Acts  xvii.  31) 


Paul  at  Corinth  (Acts  xviii.  1-11) . 


'  Constrained  by  the  Word  '  (Acts  xviii.  5) 


Gallic  (Acts  xviii.  14,  15) 


Two  Fruitful  Years  (Acts  xix.  1-12)  • 


Would-be  Exorcists  (Acts  xix.  15) 


.  131 

.  188 

.  146 

.  148 

.  165 

.  165 

.  168 

.  175 


The  Fight  with  Wild  Beasts  at  Ephesus  (Acts  xix. 

21-34)  ,,.,,..      180 


CONTENTS 

Parting  Counsels  (Acts  xx.  22-35)  .  ,  • 

A  Fulfilled  Aspiration  (Acts  xx.  24 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  7) 
Parting  Words  (Acts  xx.  32) 
The  Blessedness  op  Giving  (Acts  xx.  35) 
Drawing  Nearer  to  the  Storm  (Acts  xxi.  1-15) 
Philip  the  Evangelist  (Acts  xxi.  8) 
An  Old  Disciple  (Acts  xxi.  16) 
Paul  in  the  Temple  (Acts  xxi.  27-39) 

Paul  on  His  Own  Conversion  (Acts  xxii.  6-16) 

Rome  Protects  Paul  (Acts  xxii.  17-30)  . 

Christ's  Witnesses  (Acts  xxiii.  11)  , 

A  Plot  Detected  (Acts  xxiii.  12-22)    .  , 
A  Loyal  Tribute  (Acts  xxiv.  2,  8)  . 

Paul  before  Felix  (Acts  xxiv.  10-25)  , 
Felix  before  Paul  (Acts  xxiv.  25) 

Christ's  Remonstrances  (Acts  xxvi.  14)  . 

Faith  in  Christ  (Acts  xxvi.  18)      .  , 


Vll 

PAeK 

187 


viii  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

PA8K 

*  Before  Governors  and  Kings  '  (Acts  xxvi.  19-32)  ,     822 

•The  Heavenlt  Vision'  (Acts xxvi.  19)    ,            ,  ,328 

•Mb  A  Christian r  (Acts  xxvi.  28)              •            ,  ,887 

Tempest  and  Trust  (Acts  xxvii.  13-26)      ,            ,  ,848 

A  Short  Confession  of  Faith  (Acts  xxvii.  23)    .  ,855 
A  Total  Wreck,  All  Hands  Saved  (Acts  xxvii.  30-44) .     363 

After  the  Wreck  (Acts  xxviii.  1-16)        ,            •  ,      870 

The  Last  Glimpse  of  Paul  (Acts  xxviii.  17-31)     .  ,     376 

Paul  in  Komb  (Acts  xxviii.  30,  31) ,             ,            ,  ,383 


TO  THE  REGIONS  BEYOND 

*  Now  there  were  in  the  church  that  was  at  Antioch  certain  prophets  and 
teachers ;  as. Barnabas,  and  Simeon  that  was  called  Niger,  and  Lucius  of  Cyrene, 
and  Manaen,  which  had  been  brought  up  with  Hei'od  the  tetrarch,  and  Saul, 
2.  As  they  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said.  Separate  me 
Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.  3.  And  when 
they  had  fasted  and  prayed,  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away. 
i.  So  they,  being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  departed  unto  Seleucia ;  and  from 
thence  they  sailed  to  Cyprus.  5.  And  when  they  were  at  Salamis,  they  preached 
the  word  of  God  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews ;  and  they  had  also  John  to  their 
minister.  6.  And  when  they  had  gone  throxigh  the  isle  unto  Paphos,  they  found 
a  certain  sorcerer,  a  false  prophet,  a  Jew,  whose  name  was  Bar-jesus  :  7.  Which 
was  with  the  depiity  of  the  country,  Sergius  Paulus,  a  prudent  man,  who  called 
for  Barnabas  and  Saul,  and  desired  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  8.  But  Elymas  the 
sorcerer  (for  so  is  his  name  by  interpretation)  withstood  them,  seeking  to  turn 
away  the  deputy  from  the  faith.  9.  Then  Saul,  (who  also  is  called  Paul,)  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  set  his  eyes  on  him,  10.  And  said,  O  full  of  all  subtilty  and 
all  mischief,  thou  child  of  the  devil,  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not 
cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?  11.  And  now,  behold,  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  blind,  not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season. 
And  immediately  there  fell  on  him  a  mist  and  a  darkness  ;  and  he  went  about 
seeking  some  to  lead  him  by  the  hand.  12.  Then  the  deputy,  when  he  saw  what 
was  done,  believed,  being  astonished  at  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord.  13.  Now  when 
Paul  and  his  company  loosed  from  Paphos,  they  came  to  Perga  in  Pamphylia : 
and  John  departing  from  them  returned  to  Jerusalem.'-  -A  cts  xiii.  1-13. 

We  stand  in  this  passage  at  the  beginning  of  a  great 
step  forward.  Philip  and  Peter  had  each  played  a  part 
in  the  gradual  expansion  of  the  church  beyond  the 
limits  of  Judaism,  but  it  was  from  the  church  at 
Antioch  that  the  messengers  went  forth  who  completed 
the  process.  Both  its  locality  and  its  composition  made 
that  natural. 

I.  The  solemn  designation  of  the  missionaries  is  the 
first  point  in  the  narrative.  The  church  at  Antioch 
was  not  left  without  signs  of  Christ's  grace  and  pres- 
ence. It  had  its  band  of  '  prophets  and  teachers.' 
As  might  be  expected,  four  of  the  five  named  are 
VOL.  II.  A 


2  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

Hellenists, — that  is,  Jews  born  in  Gentile  lands,  and 
speaking  Gentile  languages.  Barnabas  was  a  Cypriote, 
Simeon's  byname  of  Niger  ('  Black ')  was  probably 
given  because  of  his  dark  complexion,  which  was 
probably  caused  by  his  birth  in  w^armer  lands.  He  may 
have  been  a  North  African,  as  Lucius  of  Cyrene  was. 
Saul  was  from  Tarsus,  and  only  Manaen  remains  to 
represent  the  pure  Palestinian  Jew.  His  had  been  a 
strange  course,  from  being  foster-brother  of  the  Herod 
who  killed  John  to  becoming  a  teacher  in  the  church  at 
Antioch.  Barnabas  was  the  leader  of  the  little  group, 
and  the  younger  Pharisee  from  Tarsus,  who  had  all 
along  been  Barnabas's  protegi,  brought  up  the  rear. 

The  order  observed  in  the  list  is  a  little  window 
which  shows  a  great  deal.  The  first  and  last  names 
all  the  world  knows ;  the  other  three  are  never  heard 
of  again.  Immortality  falls  on  the  two,  oblivion 
swallows  up  the  three.  But  it  matters  little  whether 
our  names  are  sounded  in  men's  ears,  if  they  are  in 
the  Lamb's  book  of  life. 

These  five  brethren  were  waiting  on  the  Lord  by 
fasting  and  prayer.  Apparently  they  had  reason  to 
expect  some  divine  communication,  for  which  they 
were  thus  preparing  themselves.  Light  will  come  to 
those  who  thus  seek  it.  They  were  commanded  to  set 
apart  two  of  their  number  for  '  the  work  whereunto 
I  have  called  them.'  That  work  is  not  specified,  and 
yet  the  two,  like  carrier  pigeons  on  being  let  loose, 
make  straight  for  their  line  of  flight,  and  know  exactly 
whither  they  are  to  go. 

If  we  strictly  interpret  Luke's  words  (*  I  have  called 
them'),  a  previous  intimation  from  the  Spirit  had 
revealed  to  them  the  sphere  of  their  work.  In  that 
case,  the  separation  was  only  the  recognition  by  the 


vs.  1-13]    TO  THE  REGIONS  BEYOND  3 

brethren  of  the  divine  appointment.  The  inward  call 
must  come  first,  and  no  ecclesiastical  designation  can 
do  more  than  confirm  that.  But  the  solemn  designation 
by  the  Church  identifies  those  who  remain  behind  with 
the  work  of  those  who  go  forth ;  it  throws  respon- 
sibility for  sympathy  and  support  on  the  former,  and 
it  ministers  strength  and  the  sense  of  companionship 
to  the  latter,  besides  checking  that  tendency  to  isolation 
which  accompanies  earnestness.  To  go  forth  on  even 
Christian  service,  unrecognised  by  the  brethren,  is  not 
good  for  even  a  Paul. 

But  although  Luke  speaks  of  the  Church  sending 
them  away,  he  takes  care  immediately  to  add  that  it 
was  the  Holy  Ghost  who  '  sent  them  forth.'  Ramsay 
suggests  that '  sent  them  away '  is  not  the  meaning  of 
the  phrase  in  verse  3,  but  that  it  should  be  rendered 
'gave  them  leave  to  depart.'  In  any  case,  a  clear 
distinction  is  drawn  between  the  action  of  the  Church 
and  that  of  the  Spirit,  which  constituted  Paul's  real 
commission  as  an  Apostle.  He  himself  says  that  he 
was  an  Apostle,  '  not  from  men,  neither  through  man.' 

II.  The  events  in  the  first  stage  of  the  journey  are 
next  summarily  presented.  Note  the  local  colouring 
in  '  went  down  to  Seleucia,'  the  seaport  of  Antioch,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  missionaries  were 
naturally  led  to  begin  at  Cyprus,  as  Barnabas's  birth- 
place, and  that  of  some  of  the  founders  of  the  church 
at  Antioch. 

So,  for  the  first  time,  the  Gospel  went  to  sea,  the 
precursor  of  so  many  voyages.  It  was  an  '  epoch- 
making  moment'  when  that  ship  dropped  down  with 
the  tide  and  put  out  to  sea.  Salamis  was  the  nearest 
port  on  the  south-eastern  coast  of  Cyprus,  and  there  they 
landed, — Barnabas,  no  doubt,  familiar  with  all  he  saw ; 


4  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xiii, 

Saul  probably  a  stranger  to  it  all.  Their  plan  of  action 
was  that  to  which  Paul  adhered  in  all  his  after  work, — 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  Jew  first,  a  proceeding  for 
which  the  manner  of  worship  in  the  synagogues  gave 
facilities.  No  doubt,  many  such  were  scattered  through 
Cyprus,  and  Barnabas  would  be  well  known  in 
most. 

They  thus  traversed  the  island  from  east  to  west. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  only  now  is  John  Mark's  name 
brought  in  as  their  attendant.  He  had  come  with 
them  from  Antioch,  but  Luke  will  not  mention  him 
when  he  is  telling  of  the  sending  forth  of  the  other 
two,  because  Mark  was  not  sent  by  the  Spirit,  but  only 
chosen  by  his  uncle,  and  his  subsequent  defection  did 
not  affect  the  completeness  of  their  embassy.  His. 
entirely  subordinate  place  is  made  obvious  by  the 
point  at  which  he  appears. 

Nothing  of  moment  happened  on  the  tour  till  Paphos 
was  reached.  That  was  the  capital,  the  residence  of 
the  pro-consul,  and  the  seat  of  the  foul  worship  of 
Venus.  There  the  first  antagonist  was  met.  It  is  not 
Sergius  Paulus,  pro-consul  though  he  was,  who  is  the 
central  figure  of  interest  to  Luke,  but  the  sorcerer  who 
was  attached  to  his  train.  His  character  is  drawn  in 
Luke's  description,  and  in  Paul's  fiery  exclamation. 
Each  has  three  clauses,  which  fall  'like  the  beats  of 
a  hammer.'  'Sorcerer,  false  prophet,  Jew,'  make  a 
climax  of  wickedness.  That  a  Jew  should  descend  to 
dabble  in  the  black  art  of  magic,  and  play  tricks  on 
the  credulity  of  ignorant  people  by  his  knowledge  of 
some  simple  secrets  of  chemistry;  that  he  should 
pretend  to  prophetic  gifts  which  in  his  heart  he  knew 
to  be  fraud,  and  should  be  recreant  to  his  ancestral 
faith,  proved  him  to  deserve  the  penetrating  sentence 


vs.  1-13]  TO  THE  REGIONS  BEYOND  5 

which  Paul  passed  on  him.  He  was  a  trickster,  and 
knew  that  he  was :  his  inspiration  came  from  an  evil 
source;  he  had  come  to  hate  righteousness  of  every 
sort. 

Paul  was  not  flinging  bitter  words  at  random,  or 
yielding  to  passion,  but  was  laying  the  black  heart 
bare  to  the  man's  own  eyes,  that  the  seeing  himself  as 
God  saw  him  might  startle  him  into  penitence.  *  The 
corruption  of  the  best  is  the  worst.'  The  bitterest 
enemies  of  God's  ways  are  those  who  have  cast  aside 
their  early  faith.  A  Jew  who  had  stooped  to  be  a 
juggler  was  indeed  causing  God's  *  name  to  be  blas- 
phemed among  the  Gentiles.' 

He  and  Paul  each  recognised  in  the  other  his  most 
formidable  foe.  Elyraas  instinctively  felt  that  the 
pro-consul  must  be  kept  from  listening  to  the  teaching 
of  these  two  fellow-countrymen,  and  'sought  to  per- 
vert him  from  the  faith,'  therein  perverting  (the  same 
word  is  used  in  both  cases)  '  the  right  ways  of  the 
Lord ' ;  that  is,  opposing  the  divine  purpose.  He  was 
a  specimen  of  a  class  who  attained  influence  in  that 
epoch  of  unrest,  when  the  more  cultivated  and  nobler 
part  of  Roman  society  had  lost  faith  in  the  old  gods, 
and  was  turning  wistfully  and  with  widespread  ex- 
pectation to  the  mysterious  East  for  enlightenment. 

So,  like  a  ship  which  plunges  into  the  storm  as  soon 
as  it  clears  the  pier-head,  the  missionaries  felt  the  first 
dash  of  the  spray  and  blast  of  the  wind  directly  they 
began  their  work.  Since  this  was  their  first  encounter 
with  a  foe  which  they  would  often  have  to  meet,  the 
duel  assumes  importance,  and  we  understand  not  only 
the  fulness  of  the  narrative,  but  the  miracle  which 
assured  Paul  and  Barnabas  of  Christ's  help,  and  was 
meant  to  diffuse  its  encouragement  along  the  line  of 


6  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [cH.xm. 

their  future  work.  For  Elymas  it  was  chastisement, 
which  might  lead  him  to  cease  to  pervert  the  ways  of 
the  Lord,  and  himself  begin  to  walk  in  them.  Perhaps, 
after  a  season,  he  did  see  '  the  better  Sun.' 

Saul's  part  in  the  incident  is  noteworthy.  We 
observe  the  vivid  touch,  he  '  fastened  his  eyes  on  him.' 
There  must  have  been  something  very  piercing  in  the 
fixed  gaze  of  these  flashing  eyes.  But  Luke  takes  pains 
to  prevent  our  thinking  that  Paul  spoke  from  his  own 
insight  or  was  moved  by  human  passion.  He  was 
'  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and,  as  His  organ,  poured 
out  the  scorching  words  that  revealed  the  cowering 
apostate  to  himself,  and  announced  the  merciful 
punishment  that  was  to  fall.  We  need  to  be  very 
sure  that  we  are  similarly  filled  before  venturing  to 
imitate  the  Apostle's  tone. 

III.  The  shifting  of  the  scene  to  the  mainland  presents 
some  noteworthy  points.  It  is  singular  that  there  is 
no  preaching  mentioned  as  having  been  attempted  in 
Perga,  or  anywhere  along  the  coast,  but  that  the  two 
evangelists  seem  to  have  gone  at  once  across  the  great 
mountain  range  of  Taurus  to  Antioch  of  Pisidia. 

A  striking  suggestion  is  made  by  Ramsay  to  the 
effect  that  the  reason  was  a  sudden  attack  of  the 
malarial  fever  which  is  endemic  in  the  low-lying  coast 
plains,  and  for  which  the  natural  remedy  is  to  get  up 
among  the  mountains.  If  so,  the  journey  to  Antioch 
of  Pisidia  may  not  have  been  in  the  programme  to  which 
John  Mark  had  agreed,  and  his  return  to  Jerusalem 
may  have  been  due  to  this  departure  from  the 
original  intention.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  stands  for 
us  as  a  beacon,  warninjj  against  hasty  entrance  on 
great  undertakings  of  which  we  have  not  counted 
the  cost,  no  less  than  against  cowardly  flight  from 


vs.  1-13]    WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL  7 

work,  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  involve  more  danger  or 
discomfort  than  we  had  reckoned  on. 

John  Mark  was  willing  to  go  a-missionarying  as  long 
as  he  was  in  Cyprus,  where  he  was  somebody  and 
much  at  home,  by  his  relationship  to  Barnabas;  but 
when  Perga  and  the  climb  over  Taurus  into  strange 
lands  came  to  be  called  for,  his  zeal  and  courage  oozed 
out  at  his  finger-ends,  and  he  skulked  back  to  his 
mother's  house  at  Jerusalem.  No  wonder  that  Paul 
'  thought  not  good  to  take  with  them  him  who  with- 
drew from  them.'  But  even  such  faint  hearts  as 
Mark's  may  take  courage  from  the  fact  that  he  nobly 
retrieved  his  youthful  error,  and  won  back  Paul's  con- 
fidence, and  proved  himself  '  profitable  to  him  for  the 
ministry.' 


WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL 

'Saul  (who  also  is  called  Paul)'  .  .  .—Acts  xiii.  9. 

Hitherto  the  Apostle  has  been  known  by  the  former 
of  these  names,  henceforward  he  is  known  exclusively 
by  the  latter.  Hitherto  he  has  been  second  to  his 
friend  Barnabas,  henceforward  he  is  first.  In  an 
earlier  verse  of  the  chapter  we  read  that  'Barnabas 
and  Saul'  were  separated  for  their  missionary  work, 
and  again,  that  it  was  '  Barnabas  and  Saul'  for  whom 
the  governor  of  Cyprus  sent,  to  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord.  But  in  a  subsequent  verse  of  the  chapter  we 
read  that '  Paul  and  his  company  loosed  from  Paphos.* 
The  change  in  the  order  of  the  names  is  significant, 
and  the  change  in  the  names  not  less  so.  Why  was  it 
that  at  this  period  the  Apostle  took  up  this  new  designa- 
tion ?    I  think  that  the  coincidence  between  his  name 


8  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xiii. 

and  that  of  the  governor  of  Cyprus,  who  believed  at 
his  preaching,  Sergius  Paulus,  is  too  remarkable  to  be 
accidental.  And  though,  no  doubt,  it  vras  the  custom 
for  the  Jews  of  that  day,  especially  for  those  of  them 
who  lived  in  Gentile  lands,  to  have,  for  convenience' 
sake,  two  names,  one  Jewish  and  one  Gentile — one  for 
use  amongst  their  brethren,  and  one  for  use  amongst 
the  heathen — still  we  have  no  distinct  intimation  that 
the  Apostle  bore  a  Gentile  name  before  this  moment. 
And  the  fact  that  the  name  which  he  bears  now  is  the 
same  as  that  of  his  first  convert,  seems  to  me  to  point 
the  explanation. 

I  take  it,  then,  that  the  assumption  of  the  name  of 
Paul  instead  of  the  name  of  Saul  occurred  at  this  point, 
stood  in  some  relation  to  his  missionary  work,  and  was 
intended  in  some  sense  as  a  memorial  of  his  first 
victory  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

I  think  that  there  are  lessons  to  be  derived  from  the 
substitution  of  one  of  these  names  for  the  other  which 
may  well  occupy  us  for  a  few  moments. 

I.  First  of  all,  then,  the  new  name  expresses  a  new 
nature. 

Jesus  Christ  gave  the  Apostle  whom  He  called  to 
Himself  in  the  early  days,  a  new  name,  in  order  to 
prophesy  the  change  which,  by  the  discipline  of  sorrow 
and  the  communication  of  the  grace  of  God,  should 
pass  over  Simon  Barjona,  making  him  into  a  Peter,  a 
•  Man  of  Rock.'  With  characteristic  independence,  Saul 
chooses  for  himself  a  new  name,  which  shall  express 
the  change  that  he  feels  has  passed  over  his  inmost 
being.  True,  he  does  not  assume  it  at  his  conversion, 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  believe  that 
he  assumes  it  because  he  is  beginning  to  understand 
what  it  is  that  has  happened  to  him  at  his  conversion. 


V.9]        WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL  9 

The  fact  that  he  changes  his  name  as  soon  as  he 
throws  himself  into  public  and  active  life,  is  but 
gathering  into  one  picturesque  symbol  his  great 
principle ;  '  If  any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  is  a  new 
creature.  Old  things  are  passed  away  and  all  things 
are  become  new.' 

So,  dear  brethren,  we  may,  from  this  incident  before 
us,  gather  this  one  great  lesson,  that  the  central  heart 
of  Christianity  is  the  possession  of  a  new  life,  com- 
municated to  us  through  faith  in  that  Son  of  God, 
Who  is  the  Lord  of  the  Spirit.  Wheresoever  there 
is  a  true  faith,  there  is  a  new  nature.  Opinions  may 
play  upon  the  surface  of  a  man's  soul,  like  moon- 
beams on  the  silver  sea,  without  raising  its  tem- 
perature one  degree  or  sending  a  single  beam  into 
its  dark  caverns.  And  that  is  the  sort  of  Christianity 
that  satisfies  a  great  many  of  you — a  Christianity 
of  opinion,  a  Christianity  of  surface  creed,  a  Chris- 
tianity which  at  the  best  slightly  modifies  some  of 
your  outward  actions,  but  leaves  the  whole  inner  man 
unchanged. 

Paul's  Christianity  meant  a  radical  change  in  his 
whole  nature.  He  went  out  of  Jerusalem  a  persecutor, 
he  came  into  Damascus  a  Christian.  He  rode  out  of 
Jerusalem  hating,  loathing,  despising  Jesus  Christ ;  he 
groped  his  way  into  Damascus,  broken,  bruised,  cling- 
ing contrite  to  His  feet,  and  clasping  His  Cross  as  his 
only  hope.  He  went  out  proud,  self-reliant,  pluming 
himself  upon  his  many  prerogatives,  his  blue  blood, 
his  pure  descent,  his  Rabbinical  knowledge,  his  Phari- 
saical training,  his  external  religious  earnestness,  his 
rigid  morality;  he  rode  into  Damascus  blind  in  the 
eyes,  but  seeing  in  the  soul,  and  discerning  that  all 
these  things  were,  as  he  says  in  his  strong,  vehement 


10  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xm. 

way,  'but  dung'  in  comparison  with  his  winning 
Christ. 

And  his  theory  of  conversion,  which  he  preaches  in 
all  his  Epistles,  is  but  the  generalisation  of  his  own 
personal  experience,  which  suddenly,  and  in  a  moment, 
smote  his  old  self  to  shivers,  and  raised  up  a  new  life, 
with  new  tastes,  views,  tendencies,  aspirations,  with 
new  allegiance  to  a  new  King.  Such  changes,  so 
sudden,  so  revolutionary,  cannot  be  expected  often  to 
take  place  amongst  people  who,  like  us,  have  been 
listening  to  Christian  teaching  all  our  lives.  But 
unless  there  be  this  infusion  of  a  new  life  into  men's 
spirits  which  shall  make  them  love  and  long  and  aspire 
after  new  things  that  once  they  did  not  care  for,  I 
know  not  why  we  should  speak  of  them  as  being 
Christians  at  all.  The  transition  is  described  by  Paul 
as  'passing  from  death  unto  life.'  That  cannot  be  a 
surface  thing.  A  change  which  needs  a  new  name 
must  be  a  profound  change.  Has  our  Christianity 
revolutionised  our  nature  in  any  such  fashion?  It  is 
easy  to  be  a  Christian  after  the  superficial  fashion 
which  passes  muster  with  so  many  of  us.  A  verbal 
acknowledgment  of  belief  in  truths  which  we  never 
think  about,  a  purely  external  performance  of  acts  of 
worship,  a  subscription  or  two  winged  by  no  sympathy, 
and  a  fairly  respectable  life  beneath  the  cloak  of  which 
all  evil  may  burrow  undetected — make  the  Christianity 
of  thousands.  Paul's  Christianity  transformed  him ; 
does  yours  transform  you?  If  it  does  not,  are  you 
quite  sure  that  it  is  Christianity  at  all  ? 

II.  Then,  again,  we  may  take  this  change  of  name  as 
being  expressive  of  a  life's  work. 

Paul  is  a  Roman  name.  He  strips  himself  of  his 
Jewish    connections   and    relationships.      His  fellow- 


V.9]        WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL  11 

countrymen  who  lived  amongst  the  Gentiles  were, 
as  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  these  remarks,  in  the 
habit  of  doing  the  same  thing ;  but  they  carried  both 
tlieir  names ;  their  Jewish  for  use  amongst  their 
own  people,  their  Gentile  one  for  use  amongst  Gen- 
tiles. Paul  seems  to  have  altogether  disused  his 
old  name  of  Saul.  It  was  almost  equivalent  to 
seceding  from  Judaism.  It  is  like  the  acts  of  the  rene- 
gades whom  one  sometimes  hears  of,  who  are  found 
by  travellers,  dressed  in  turban  and  flowing  robes, 
and  bearing  some  Turkish  name,  or  like  some  English 
sailor,  lost  to  home  and  kindred,  who  deserts  his  ship 
in  an  island  of  the  Pacific,  and  drops  his  English  name 
for  a  barbarous  title,  in  token  that  he  has  given  up 
his  faith  and  his  nationality. 

So  Paul,  contemplating  for  his  life's  work  preaching 
amongst  the  Gentiles,  determines  at  the  beginning,  '  I 
lay  down  all  of  which  I  used  to  be  proud.  If  my 
Jewish  descent  and  privileges  stand  in  my  way  I  cast 
them  aside.  "  Circumcised  the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock 
of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  an  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews,  as  touching  the  law,  a  Pharisee," — all  these  I 
wrap  together  in  one  bundle,  and  toss  them  behind  me 
that  I  may  be  the  better  able  to  help  some  to  whom 
they  would  have  hindered  my  access.'  A  man  with  a 
heart  will  throw  off  his  silken  robes  that  his  arm  may 
be  bared  to  rescue,  and  his  feet  free  to  run  to  succour. 

So  we  may,  from  the  change  of  the  Apostle's  name, 
gather  this  lesson,  never  out  of  date,  that  the  only  way 
to  help  people  is  to  go  down  to  their  level.  If  you  want 
to  bless  men,  you  must  identify  yourself  with  them.  It 
is  no  use  standing  on  an  eminence  above  them,  and 
patronisingly  talking  down  to  them.  You  cannot 
scold,  or  hector,  or  lecture  men  into  the  possession  and 


12  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

acceptance  of  religious  truth  if  you  take  a  position  of 
superiority.  As  our  Master  has  taught  us,  if  we  want 
to  make  blind  beggars  see  we  must  take  the  blind 
beggars  by  the  hand. 

The  spirit  which  led  the  Apostle  to  change  the  name 
of  Saul,  with  its  memories  of  the  royal  dignity  which, 
in  the  person  of  its  great  wearer,  had  honoured  his 
tribe,  for  a  Roman  name  is  the  same  which  he  formally 
announces  as  a  deliberately  adopted  law  of  his  life. 
'To  them  that  are  without  law  I  became  as  without 
law  .  .  .  that  I  might  gain  them  that  are  without  law 
...  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by 
all  means  save  some.' 

It  is  the  very  inmost  principle  of  the  Gospel.  The 
principle  that  influenced  the  servant  in  this  compara- 
tively little  matter,  is  the  principle  that  influenced  the 
Master  in  the  mightiest  of  all  events.  'He  who  was 
in  the  form  of  God,  and  thought  not  equality  with  God 
a  thing  to  be  eagerly  snatched  at,  made  Himself  of  no 
reputation,  and  was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man  and  in 
form  as  a  servant,  and  became  obedient  unto  death.' 
'  For  as  much  as  the  children  were  partakers  of  flesh 
and  blood,  He  Himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same ' ; 
and  the  mystery  of  incarnation  came  to  pass,  because 
when  the  Divine  would  help  men,  the  only  way  by 
which  the  Infinite  love  could  reach  its  end  was  that 
the  Divine  should  become  man;  identifying  Himself 
with  those  whom  He  would  help,  and  stooping  to  the 
level  of  the  humanity  that  He  would  lift. 

And  as  it  is  the  very  essence  and  heart  of  Christ's 
work,  so,  my  brother,  it  is  the  condition  of  all  work 
that  benefits  our  fellows.  It  applies  all  round.  We 
must  stoop  if  we  would  raise.  We  must  put  away 
gifts,   culture,  everything    that  distinguishes  us,  and 


V.  9]       WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL  13 

come  to  the  level  of  the  men  that  we  seek  to  help. 
Sympathy  is  the  parent  of  all  wise  counsel,  because  it 
is  the  parent  of  all  true  understanding  of  our  brethren's 
wants.  Sympathy  is  the  only  thing  to  which  people 
will  listen,  sympathy  is  the  only  disposition  corre- 
spondent to  the  message  that  we  Christians  are 
entrusted  with.  For  a  Christian  man  to  carry  the 
Gospel  of  Infinite  condescension  to  his  fellows  in  a 
spirit  other  than  that  of  the  Master  and  the  Gospel 
which  he  speaks,  is  an  anomaly  and  a  contradiction. 

And,  therefore,  let  us  all  remember  that  a  vast  deal 
of  so-called  Christian  work  falls  utterly  dead  and 
profitless,  for  no  other  reason  than  this,  that  the  doers 
have  forgotten  that  they  must  come  to  the  level  of  the 
men  whom  they  would  help,  before  they  can  expect  to 
bless  them. 

You  remember  the  old  story  of  the  heroic  mission- 
ary whose  heart  burned  to  carry  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  amongst  captives,  and  as  there  was  no  other 
way  of  reaching  them,  let  himself  be  sold  for  a  slave, 
and  put  out  his  hands  to  have  the  manacles  fastened 
upon  them.  It  is  the  law  for  all  Christian  service; 
become  like  men  if  you  will  help  them, — '  To  the  weak 
as  weak,  all  things  to  all  men,  that  we  might  by  all 
means  save  some.' 

And,  my  brother,  there  was  no  obligation  on  Paul's 
part  to  do  Christian  work  which  does  not  lie  on  you. 

III.  Further,  this  change  of  name  is  a  memorial  of 
victory. 

The  name  is  that  of  Paul's  first  convert.  He  takes  it, 
as  I  suppose,  because  it  seemed  to  him  such  a  blessed 
thing  that  at  the  very  moment  when  he  began  to  sow, 
God  helped  him  to  reap.  He  had  gone  out  to  his  work, 
no  doubt,  with  much  trembling,  with  weakness  and 


14  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xiii. 

fear.  And  lo!  here,  at  once,  the  fields  were  white 
already  to  the  harvest. 

Great  conquerors  have  been  named  from  their 
victories ;  Africanus,  Germanicus,  Nelson  of  the  Nile, 
Napier  of  Magdala,  and  the  like.  Paul  names  himself 
from  the  first  victory  that  God  gives  him  to  win ;  and 
so,  as  it  were,  carries  ever  on  his  breast  a  memorial  of 
the  wonder  that  through  him  it  had  been  given  to 
preach,  and  that  not  without  success,  amongst  the 
Gentiles  '  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.' 

That  is  to  say,  this  man  thought  of  it  as  his  highest 
honour,  and  the  thing  best  worthy  to  be  remembered 
about  his  life,  that  God  had  helped  him  to  help  his 
brethren  to  know  the  common  Master.  Is  that  your 
idea  of  the  best  thing  about  a  life  ?  What  would  you, 
a  professing  Christian,  like  to  have  for  an  epitaph  on 
your  grave?  'He  was  rich;  he  made  a  big  business 
in  Manchester ' ;  '  He  was  famous,  he  wrote  books ' ; 
'  He  was  happy  and  fortunate ' ;  or,  '  He  turned  many 
to  righteousness'?  This  man  flung  away  his  literary 
tastes,  his  home  joys,  and  his  personal  ambition, 
and  chose  as  that  for  which  he  would  live,  and  by 
which  he  would  fain  be  remembered,  that  he  should 
bring  dark  hearts  to  the  light  in  which  he  and  they 
together  walked. 

His  name,  in  its  commemoration  of  his  first  success, 
would  act  as  a  stimulus  to  service  and  to  hope.  No 
doubt  the  Apostle,  like  the  rest  of  us,  had  his  times  of 
indolence  and  languor,  and  his  times  of  despondency 
when  he  seemed  to  have  laboured  in  vain,  and  spent 
his  strength  for  nought.  He  had  but  to  say  'Paul' 
to  find  the  antidote  to  both  the  one  and  the  other,  and 
in  the  remembrance  of  the  past  to  find  a  stimulus  for 
service  for  the  future,  and  a  stimulus  for  hope  for  the 


V.9]       WHY  SAUL  BECAME  PAUL  15 

time  to  come.  His  first  convert  was  to  him  the  first 
drop  that  predicts  the  shower,  the  first  primrose  that 
prophesies  the  wealth  of  yellow  blossoms  and  downy 
green  leaves  that  will  fill  the  woods  in  a  day  or  two. 
The  first  convert  '  bears  in  his  hand  a  glass  which 
showeth  many  more.'  Look  at  the  workmen  in  the 
streets  trying  to  get  up  a  piece  of  the  roadway.  How 
difficult  it  is  to  lever  out  the  first  paving  stone  from 
the  compacted  mass !  But  when  once  it  has  been 
withdrawn,  the  rest  is  comparatively  easy.  We  can 
understand  Paul's  triumph  and  joy  over  the  first  stone 
which  he  had  worked  out  of  the  strongly  cemented 
wall  and  barrier  of  heathenism;  and  his  conviction 
that  having  thus  made  a  breach,  if  it  were  but  wide 
enough  to  let  the  end  of  his  lever  in,  the  fall  of  the 
whole  was  only  a  question  of  time.  I  suppose  that  if 
the  old  alchemists  had  turned  but  one  grain  of  base 
metal  into  gold  they  might  have  turned  tons,  if  only 
they  had  had  the  retorts  and  the  appliances  with 
which  to  do  it.  And  so,  what  has  brought  one  man's 
soul  into  harmony  with  God,  and  given  one  man  the 
true  life,  can  do  the  same  for  all  men.  In  the  first 
fruits  we  may  see  the  fields  whitening  to  the  harvest. 
Let  us  rejoice  then,  in  any  little  work  that  God  helps 
us  to  do,  and  be  sure  that  if  so  great  be  the  joy  of  the 
first  fruits,  great  beyond  speech  will  be  the  joy  of  the 
ingathering. 

IV.  And  now  last  of  all,  this  change  of  name  is  an 
index  of  the  spirit  of  a  life's  work. 

•  Paul '  means  '  little ' ;  '  Saul '  means  *  desired.'  He 
abandons  the  name  that  prophesied  of  favour  and 
honour,  to  adopt  a  name  that  bears  upon  its  very  front 
a  profession  of  humility.  His  very  name  is  the  con- 
densation into  a  word  of  his  abiding  conviction :  '  I  am 


16  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xhi. 

less  than  the  least  of  all  saints.'  Perhaps  even  there 
may  be  an  allusion  to  his  low  stature,  which  may  be 
pointed  at  in  the  sarcasm  of  his  enemies  that  his  letters 
were  strong,  though  his  bodily  presence  was  *  weak.'  If 
he  was,  as  Renan  calls  him,  'an  ugly  little  Jew,'  the 
name  has  a  double  appropriateness. 

But,  at  all  events,  it  is  an  expression  of  the  spirit  in 
which  he  sought  to  do  his  work.  The  more  lofty  the 
consciousness  of  his  vocation  the  more  lowly  will  a 
true  man's  estimate  of  himself  be.  The  higher  my 
thought  of  what  God  has  given  me  grace  to  do,  the 
more  shall  I  feel  weighed  down  by  the  consciousness  of 
my  unfitness  to  do  it.  And  the  more  grateful  my 
remembrance  of  what  He  has  enabled  me  to  do,  the 
more  shall  I  wonder  that  I  have  been  enabled,  and  the 
more  profoundly  shall  I  feel  that  it  is  not  my  strength 
but  His  that  has  won  the  victories. 

So,  dear  brethren,  for  all  hope,  for  all  success  in  our 
work,  for  all  growth  in  Christian  grace  and  character, 
this  disposition  of  lowly  self-abasement  and  recognised 
unworthiness  and  infirmity  is  absolutely  indispensable. 
The  mountain-tops  that  lift  themselves  to  the  stars  are 
barren,  and  few  springs  find  their  rise  there.  It  is  in 
the  lowly  valleys  that  the  flowers  grow  and  the  rivers 
run.  And  it  is  they  who  are  humble  and  lowly  in 
heart  to  whom  God  gives  strength  to  serve  Him,  and 
the  joy  of  accepted  service. 

I  beseech  you,  then,  learn  your  true  life's  task.  Learn 
how  to  do  it  by  identifying  yourselves  with  the  humbler 
brethren  whom  you  would  help.  Learn  the  spirit  in 
which  it  must  be  done ;  the  spirit  of  lowly  self-abase- 
ment. And  oh !  above  all,  learn  this,  that  unless  you 
have  the  new  life,  the  life  of  God  in  your  hearts,  you 
have  no  life  at  all. 


V.  9]  JOHN  MARK  17 

Have  you,  my  brother,  that  faith  by  which  we  receive 
into  our  spirits  Christ's  own  Spirit,  to  be  our  life  ?  If 
you  have,  then  you  are  a  new  creature,  with  a  new 
name,  perhaps  but  dimly  visible  and  faintly  audible, 
amidst  the  imperfections  of  earth,  but  sure  to  shine 
out  on  the  pages  of  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life ;  and  to  be 
read  'with  tumults  of  acclaim'  before  the  angels  of 
Heaven.  'I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in  the 
stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  man  knoweth 
save  he  that  receiveth  it.' 


JOHN  MARK 

*.'.".  John,  departing  from  them,  returned  to  Jerusalem.'— Acrrs  xiU.  13. 

The  few  brief  notices  of  John  Mark  in  Scripture  are 
sufficient  to  give  us  an  outline  of  his  life,  and  some 
inkling  of  his  character.  He  was  the  son  of  a  well-to- 
do  Christian  woman  in  Jerusalem,  whose  house  appears 
to  have  been  the  resort  of  the  brethren  as  early  as  the 
period  of  Peter's  miraculous  deliverance  from  prison. 
As  the  cousin  of  Barnabas  he  was  naturally  selected  to 
be  the  attendant  and  secular  factotum  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  on  their  first  missionary  journey.  For  some 
reason,  faint-heartedness,  lack  of  interest,  levity  of  dis- 
position, or  whatever  it  may  have  been,  he  very  quickly 
abandoned  that  office  and  returned  to  his  home.  His 
kindly-natured  and  indulgent  relative  sought  to  re- 
instate him  in  his  former  position  on  the  second 
journey  of  Paul  and  himself.  Paul's  kinder  severity 
refused  to  comply  with  the  wish  of  his  colleague 
Barnabas,  and  so  they  part,  and  Barnabas  and  Mark 
sail  away  to  Cyprus,  and  drop  out  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.    We  hear  no  more  about  him  until  near  the 

VOL.  II.  B 


18  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

end  of  \}ie  Apostle  Paul's  life,  when  the  Epistles  to 
the  Colossians  and  Philemon  show  him  as  again  the 
companion  of  Paul  in  his  captivity.  He  seems  to  have 
left  him  in  Rome,  to  have  gone  to  Asia  Minor  for  a 
space,  to  have  returned  to  the  Apostle  during  his  last 
imprisonment  and  immediately  prior  to  his  death,  and 
then  to  have  attached  himself  to  the  Apostle  Peter, 
and  under  his  direction  and  instruction  to  have  written 
his  Gospel. 

Now  these  are  the  bones  of  his  story;  can  we  put 
flesh  and  blood  upon  them :  and  can  we  get  any  lessons 
out  of  them  ?  I  think  we  may  ;  at  any  rate  I  am  going 
to  try. 

I.  Consider  then,  first,  his — what  shall  I  call  it? 
well,  if  I  may  use  the  word  which  Paul  himself  desig- 
nates it  by,  in  its  correct  signification,  we  may  call  it 
his — apostasy. 

It  was  not  a  departure  from  Christ,  but  it  was  a 
departure  from  very  plain  duty.  And  if  you  will  notice 
the  point  of  time  at  which  Mark  threw  up  the  work 
that  was  laid  upon  him,  you  will  see  the  reason  for  hia 
doing  so.  The  first  place  to  which  the  bold  evangelists 
went  was  Cyprus.  Barnabas  was  a  native  of  Cyprus, 
which  was  perhaps  the  reason  for  selecting  it  as  the 
place  in  which  to  begin  the  mission.  For  the  same 
reason,  because  it  was  the  native  place  of  his  relative, 
it  would  be  very  easy  work  for  John  Mark  as  long  as 
they  stopped  in  Cyprus,  among  his  friends,  with  people 
that  knew  him,  and  with  whom  no  doubt  he  was 
familiar.  But  as  soon  as  they  crossed  the  strait 
that  separated  the  island  from  the  mainland,  and  set 
foot  upon  the  soil  of  Asia  Minor,  so  soon  he  turned 
tail;  like  some  recruit  that  goes  into  battle,  full  of 
fervour,  but  as  soon  as  the  bullets  begin  to  *ping' 


V.13]  JOHN  MARK  19 

makes  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  rear.  He  was  quite 
ready  for  missionary  work  as  long  as  it  was  easy  work ; 
quite  ready  to  do  it  as  long  as  he  was  moving  upon 
known  ground  and  there  was  no  great  call  upon  his 
heroism,  or  his  self-sacrifice ;  he  does  not  wait  to  test 
the  difficulties,  but  is  frightened  by  the  imagination  of 
them,  does  not  throw  himself  into  the  work  and  see 
how  he  gets  on  with  it,  but  before  he  has  gone  a  mile 
into  the  land,  or  made  any  real  experience  of  the  perils 
and  hardships,  has  had  quite  enough  of  it,  and  goes 
away  back  to  his  mother  in  Jerusalem. 

Yes,  and  we  find  exactly  the  same  thing  in  all 
kinds  of  strenuous  life.  Many  begin  to  run,  but  one 
after  another,  as  'lap'  after  'lap'  of  the  racecourse 
is  got  over,  has  had  enough  of  it,  and  drops  on  one  side ; 
a  hundred  started,  and  at  the  end  the  field  is  reduced 
to  three  or  four.  All  you  men  that  have  grey  hairs 
on  your  heads  can  remember  many  of  your  com- 
panions that  set  out  in  the  course  with  you,  '  did  run 
weir  for  a  little  while:  what  has  become  of  them? 
This  thing  hindered  one,  the  other  thing  hindered  an- 
other ;  the  swiftly  formed  resolution  died  down  as  fast 
as  it  blazed  up ;  and  there  are  perhaps  some  three  or 
four  that,  '  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,'  have 
been  tolerably  faithful  to  their  juvenile  ideal ;  and  to 
use  the  homely  word  of  the  homely  Abraham  Lincoln, 
kept  'pegging  away'  at  what  they  knew  to  be  the 
task  that  was  laid  upon  them. 

This  is  very  '  threadbare '  morality,  very  very  familiar 
and  old-fashioned  teaching;  but  I  am  accustomed  to 
believe  that  no  teaching  is  threadbare  until  it  is 
practised ;  and  that  however  well-worn  the  platitudes 
may  be,  you  and  I  want  them  once  again  unless  we 
have  obeyed  them,  and  done  all  which  they  enjoin. 


20  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

And  so  in  regard  to  every  career  which  has  in  it  any- 
thing of  honour  and  of  effort,  let  John  Mark  teach  us 
the  lesson  not  swiftly  to  begin  and  inconsiderately  to 
venture  upon  a  course,  but  once  begun  to  let  nothing 
discourage,  '  nor  bate  one  jot  of  heart  or  hope,  but  still 
bear  up  and  steer  right  onward.' 

And  still  further  and  more  solemnly  still,  how 
like  this  story  is  to  the  experience  of  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  young  Christians !  Any  man  who  has 
held  such  an  office  as  I  hold,  for  as  many  years  as  I 
have  filled  it,  will  have  his  memory  full — and,  may  I 
say,  his  eyes  not  empty — of  men  and  women  who  began 
like  this  man,  earnest,  fervid,  full  of  zeal,  and  who,  like 
him,  have  slackened  in  their  work ;  who  were  Sunday- 
school  teachers,  workers  amongst  the  poor,  I  know  not 
what,  when  they  were  young  men  and  women,  and 
who  now  are  idle  and  unprofitable  servants. 

Some  of  you,  dear  brethren,  need  the  word  of  exhor- 
tation and  earnest  beseeching  to  contrast  the  sluggish- 
ness, the  indolence  of  your  present,  with  the  brightness 
and  the  fervour  of  your  past.  And  I  beseech  you,  do 
not  let  your  Christian  life  be  like  that  snow  that  is 
on  the  ground  about  us  to-day — when  it  first  lights 
upon  the  earth,  radiant  and  white,  but  day  by  day  gets 
more  covered  with  a  veil  of  sooty  blackness  until  it 
becomes  dark  and  foul. 

Many  of  us  have  to  acknowledge  that  the  fervour 
of  early  days  has  died  down  into  coldness.  The  river 
that  leapt  from  its  source  rejoicing,  and  bickered 
amongst  the  hills  in  such  swift  and  musical  descent, 
creeps  sluggish  and  almost  stagnant  amongst  the 
flats  of  later  life,  or  has  been  lost  and  swallowed  up 
altogether  in  the  thirsty  and  encroaching  sands  of  a 
barren  worldliness.    Oh !  my  friends,  let  us  all  ponder 


V.  13]  JOHN  MARK  21 

this  lesson,  and  see  to  it  that  no  repetition  of  the 
apostasy  of  this  man  darken  our  Christian  lives  and 
sadden  our  Christian  conscience. 

II.  And  now  let  me  ask  you  to  look  next,  in  the 
development  of  this  little  piece  of  biography,  to  Mark's 
eclipse. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  differed  about  how  to  treat  the 
renegade.  Which  of  them  was  right  ?  Would  it  have 
been  better  to  have  put  him  back  in  his  old  post,  and 
given  him  another  chance,  and  said  nothing  about  the 
failure ;  or  was  it  better  to  do  what  the  sterner  wisdom 
of  Paul  did,  and  declare  that  a  man  who  had  once  so 
forgotten  himself  and  abandoned  his  work  was  not 
the  man  to  put  in  the  same  place  again?  Barnabas' 
highest  quality,  as  far  as  we  know,  was  a  certain  kind 
of  broad  generosity  and  rejoicing  to  discern  good  in 
all  men.  He  was  a  'son  of  consolation';  the  gentle 
kindness  of  his  natural  disposition,  added  to  the  ties  of 
relationship,  influenced  him  in  his  wish  regarding  his 
cousin  Mark.  He  made  a  mistake.  It  would  have 
been  the  cruellest  thing  that  could  have  been  done 
to  his  relative  to  have  put  him  back  again  with- 
out acknowledgment,  without  repentance,  without  his 
riding  quarantine  for  a  bit,  and  holding  his  tongue  for 
a  while.  He  would  not  then  have  known  his  fault  as 
he  ought  to  have  known  it,  and  so  there  would  never 
have  been  the  chance  of  his  conquering  it. 

The  Church  manifestly  sympathised  with  Paul,  and 
thought  that  he  took  the  right  view ;  for  the  contrast 
is  very  significant  between  the  unsympathising  silence 
which  the  narrative  records  as  attending  the  departure 
of  Barnabas  and  Mark — '  Barnabas  took  Mark,  and 
sailed  away  to  Cyprus ' — and  the  emphasis  with  which 
it  tells  us  that  the  other  partner  in  the  dispute,  Paul, 


22  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

•took  Silas  and  departed,  being  recommended  by  the 
brethren  to  the  grace  of  God.' 

The  people  at  Antioch  had  no  doubt  who  was  right, 
and  I  think  they  were  right  in  so  deciding.  So  let  us 
learn  that  God  treats  His  renegades  as  Paul  treated 
Mark,  and  not  as  Barnabas  would  have  treated  him. 
He  is  ready,  even  infinitely  ready,  to  forgive  and  to 
restore,  but  desires  to  see  the  consciousness  of  the  sin 
first,  and  desires,  before  large  tasks  are  re-committed  to 
hands  that  once  have  dropped  them,  to  have  some  kind 
of  evidence  that  the  hands  have  grown  stronger  and 
the  heart  purified  from  its  cowardice  and  its  selfishness. 
Forgiveness  does  not  mean  impunity.  The  infinite 
mercy  of  God  is  not  mere  weak  indulgence  which  sc 
deals  with  a  man's  failures  and  sins  as  to  convey  the  im- 
pression that  these  are  of  no  moment  whatsoever.  And 
Paul's  severity  which  said :  '  No,  such  work  is  not  fit  for 
such  hands  until  the  heart  has  been  "broken  and 
healed," '  is  of  a  piece  with  God's  severity  which  is  love. 
'  Thou  wast  a  God  that  f orgavest  them,  though  Thou 
tookest  vengeance  of  their  inventions.'  Let  us  learn 
the  difference  between  a  weak  charity  which  loves  too 
foolishly,  and  therefore  too  selfishly,  to  let  a  man  inherit 
the  fruit  of  his  doings,  and  the  large  mercy  which  knows 
how  to  take  the  bitterness  out  of  the  chastisement, 
and  yet  knows  how  to  chastise. 

And  still  further,  this  which  I  have  called  Mark's 
eclipse  may  teach  us  another  lesson,  viz.,  that  the 
punishment  for  shirking  work  is  to  be  denied  work, 
just  as  the  converse  is  true,  that  in  God's  administra- 
tion of  the  world  and  of  His  Church,  the  reward  for 
faithful  work  is  to  get  more  to  do,  and  the  filling  a 
narrower  sphere  is  the  sure  way  to  have  a  wider 
sphere  tp  fill.     So  if  a  man  abandons  plain  duties,  then 


V.13]  JOHN  MARK  23 

he  will  get  no  work  to  do.  And  that  is  why  so  many 
Christian  men  and  women  are  idle  in  this  world ;  and 
stand  in  the  market-place,  saying,  with  a  certain  degree 
of  truth,  'No  man  hath  hired  us.'  No;  because  so 
often  in  the  past  tasks  have  been  presented  to  you, 
forced  upon  you,  almost  pressed  into  your  unwilling 
hands,  that  you  have  refused  to  take ;  and  j^^ou  are  not 
going  to  get  any  more.  You  have  been  asked  to  work, 
— I  speak  now  to  professing  Christians — duties  have 
been  pressed  upon  you,  fields  of  service  have  opened 
plainly  before  you,  and  you  have  not  had  the  heart  to 
go  into  them.  And  so  you  stand  idle  all  the  day  now, 
and  the  work  goes  to  other  people  that  will  do  it.  Thus 
God  honours  them,  and  passes  you  by. 

Mark  sails  away  to  Cyprus,  he  does  not  go  back  to 
Jerusalem ;  he  and  Barnabas  try  to  get  up  some  little 
schismatic  sort  of  mission  of  their  own.  Nothing  comes 
of  it ;  nothing  ought  to  have  come  of  it.  He  drops  out 
of  the  story;  he  has  no  share  in  the  joyful  conflicts 
and  sacrifices  and  successes  of  the  Apostle.  When  he 
heard  how  Paul,  by  God's  help,  was  flaming  like  a 
meteor  from  East  to  West,  do  you  not  think  he  wished 
that  he  had  not  been  such  a  coward?  When  the  Lord 
was  opening  doors,  and  he  saw  how  the  work  was  pros- 
pering in  the  hands  of  ancient  companions,  and  Silas 
filled  the  place  that  he  might  have  filled,  if  he  had  been 
faithful  to  God,  do  you  not  think  the  bitter  thought 
occupied  his  mind,  of  how  he  had  flung  away  what 
never  could  come  back  to  him  now  ?  The  punishment 
of  indolence  is  absolute  idleness. 

So,  my  friends,  let  us  learn  this  lesson,  that  the 
largest  reward  that  God  can  give  to  him  that  has  been 
faithful  in  a  few  things,  is  to  give  him  many  things  to 
be  faithful  over.    Beware,  all  of  you  professing  Chris- 


24  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

tians,  lest  to  you  should  come  the  fate  of  the  slothful 
servant  with  his  one  buried  talent,  to  whom  the  punish- 
ment of  burying  it  unused  was  to  lose  it  altogether; 
according  to  that  solemn  word  which  was  fulfilled  in  the 
temporal  sphere  in  this  story  on  which  I  am  comment- 
ing :  '  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  from  him 
that  hath  not,  even  that  he  hath  shall  be  taken  away.' 

III.  Again  consider  the  process  of  recovery. 

Concerning  it  we  read  nothing  indeed  in  Scripture ; 
but  concerning  it  we  know  enough  to  be  able  at  least 
to  determine  what  its  outline  must  have  been.  The 
silent  and  obscure  years  of  compulsory  inactivity  had 
their  fruit,  no  doubt.  There  is  only  one  road,  with 
well-marked  stages,  by  which  a  backsliding  or  apostate 
Christian  can  return  to  his  Master.  And  that  road  has 
three  halting-places  upon  it,  through  which  the  heart 
must  pass  if  it  have  wandered  from  its  early  faith,  and 
falsified  its  first  professions.  The  first  of  them  is  the 
consciousness  of  the  fall,  the  second  is  the  resort  to  the 
Master  for  forgiveness;  and  the  last  is  the  deepened 
consecration  to  Him. 

The  patriarch  Abraham,  in  a  momentary  lapse  from 
faith  to  sense,  thought  himself  compelled  to  leave 
the  land  to  which  God  had  sent  him,  because  a  famine 
threatened;  and  when  he  came  back  from  Egypt,  as 
the  narrative  tells  us  with  deep  significance,  he  went  to 
the  '  place  where  he  had  pitched  his  tent  at  the  begin- 
ning; to  the  altar  which  he  had  reared  at  the  first.' 
Yes,  my  friends,  we  must  begin  over  again,  tread  all 
the  old  path,  enter  by  the  old  wicket-gate,  once  more 
take  the  place  of  the  penitent,  once  more  make 
acquaintance  with  the  pardoning  Christ,  once  more 
devote  ourselves  in  renewed  consecration  to  His 
service.    No  man  that  wanders  into  the  wilderness  but 


▼.13]  JOHN  MARK  25 

comes  back  by  the  King's  highway,  if  he  comes  back 
at  all. 

IV.  And  so  lastly,  notice  the  reinstatement  of  the 
penitent  renegade. 

If  you  turn  at  your  leisure  to  the  remaining  notices 
of  John  Mark  in  Scripture,  you  will  find,  in  two  of 
Paul's  Epistles  of  the  captivity,  viz.,  those  to  the  Colos- 
sians  and  Philemon,  references  to  him ;  and  these  refer- 
ences are  of  a  very  interesting  and  beautiful  nature. 
Paul  says  that  in  Rome  Mark  was  one  of  the  four  born 
Jews  who  had  been  a  cordial  and  a  comfort  to  him  in 
his  imprisonment.  He  commends  him,  in  the  view 
of  a  probable  journey,  to  the  loving  reception  of  the 
church  at  Colosse,  as  if  they  knew  something  dero- 
gatory to  his  character,  the  impression  of  which  the 
Apostle  desired  to  remove.  He  sends  to  Philemon  the 
greetings  of  the  repentant  renegade  in  strange  juxta- 
position with  the  greetings  of  two  other  men,  one  who 
was  an  apostate  at  the  end  of  his  career  instead  of  at 
the  beginning,  and  of  whom  we  do  not  read  that  he 
ever  came  back,  and  one  who  all  his  life  long  is  the  type 
of  a  faithful  friend  and  companion.  'Mark,  Demas, 
Luke '  are  bracketed  as  greeting  Philemon ;  the  first  a 
runaway  that  came  back,  the  second  a  fugitive  who,  so 
far  as  we  know,  never  returned,  and  the  last  the  faith- 
ful friend  throughout. 

And  then  in  Paul's  final  Epistle,  and  in  almost  the 
last  words  of  it,  we  read  his  request  to  Timothy.  '  Take 
Mark,  and  bring  him  with  thee,  for  he  is  profitable  to 
me  for  the  ministry.'  The  first  notice  of  him  was :  '  They 
had  John  to  their  minister ' ;  the  last  word  about  him 
is :  *  he  is  profitable  for  the  ministry.'  The  Greek  words 
in  the  original  are  not  identical,  but  their  meaning  is 
substantially  the  same.  So  notwithstanding  the  failure, 


26  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

notwithstanding  the  wise  refusal  of  Paul  years  before 
to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  him,  he  is  now 
reinstated  in  his  old  office,  and  the  aged  Apostle,  before 
he  dies,  would  like  to  have  the  comfort  of  his  presence 
once  more  at  his  side.  Is  not  the  lesson  out  of  that, 
this  eternal  Gospel  that  even  early  failures,  recognised 
and  repented  of,  may  make  a  man  better  fitted  for  the 
tasks  from  which  once  he  fled  ?  Just  as  they  tell  us — 
I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  true  or  not,  it  will  do  for 
an  illustration — just  as  they  tell  us  that  a  broken  bone 
renewed  is  stronger  at  the  point  of  fracture  than  it 
ever  was  before,  so  the  very  sin  that  we  commit,  when 
once  we  know  it  for  a  sin,  and  have  brought  it  to  Christ 
for  forgiveness,  may  minister  to  our  future  efficiency 
and  strength.  The  Israelites  fought  twice  upon  one 
battlefield.  On  the  first  occasion  they  were  shamefully 
defeated ;  on  the  second,  on  the  same  ground,  and 
against  the  same  enemies,  they  victoriously  emerged 
from  the  conflict,  and  reared  the  stone  which  said, 
'  Ebenezer ! '    '  Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  us.' 

And  so  the  temptations  which  have  been  sorest  may 
be  overcome,  the  sins  into  which  we  most  naturally 
fall  we  may  put  our  foot  upon ;  the  past  is  no  specimen 
of  what  the  future  may  be.  The  page  that  is  yet  to 
be  written  need  have  none  of  the  blots  of  the  page 
that  we  have  turned  over  shining  through  it.  Sin 
which  we  have  learned  to  know  for  sin  and  to  hate, 
teaches  us  humility,  dependence,  shows  us  where  our 
weak  places  are.  Sin  which  is  forgiven  knits  us  to 
Christ  with  deeper  and  more  fervid  love,  and  results  in 
a  larger  consecration.  Think  of  the  two  ends  of  this 
man's  life — flying  like  a  frightened  hare  from  the  very 
first  suspicion  of  danger  or  of  difficulty,  sulking  in  his 
solitude,  apart  from  all  the  joyful  stir  of  consecration 


V.  13]       PREACHING  IN  ASIA  MINOR        27 

and  of  service ;  and  at  last  made  an  evangelist  to  pro- 
claim to  the  whole  world  the  story  of  the  Gospel 
of  the  Servant.  God  works  with  broken  reeds,  and 
through  them  breathes  His  sweetest  music. 

So,  dear  brethren,  '  Take  with  you  words,  and  return 
unto  the  Lord ;  say  unto  Him,  Take  away  all  iniquity, 
and  receive  us  graciously,'  and  the  answer  will  surely 
be  : — '  I  will  heal  their  backsliding ;  I  will  love  them 
freely ;  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel.' 


THE  FIRST  PREACHING  IN  ASIA  MINOR 

•  Men  and  brethren,  children  of  the  stock  of  Abraham,  and  whosoever  among 
you  feareth  God,  to  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent.  27.  For  they  that  dwell 
at  Jerusalem,  and  their  rulers,  because  they  knew  Him  not,  nor  yet  the  voices  of 
the  prophets  which  are  read  every  Sabbath  day,  they  have  fulfilled  them  in  con- 
demning Him.  28.  And  though  they  found  no  cause  of  death  in  Him,  yet  desired 
they  Pilate  that  he  should  be  slain.  29.  And  when  they  had  fulfilled  all  that  was 
written  of  Him,  they  took  Him  down  from  the  tree,  and  laid  Him  in  a  sepulchre. 
30.  But  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead  :  31.  And  He  was  seen  many  days  of  them 
which  came  up  with  Him  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  are  His  witnesses  unto 
the  people.  32.  And  we  declare  unto  you  glad  tidings,  how  that  the  promise  which 
was  made  unto  the  fathers,  33.  God  hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  us  their  children, 
in  that  He  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again  ;  as  it  is  also  written  in  the  second  psalm. 
Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee.  34.  And  as  concerning  that  He 
raised  Him  up  from  the  dead,  now  no  more  to  return  to  corruption.  He  said 
on  this  wise,  I  will  give  you  the  sure  mercies  of  David.  35.  Wherefore  He  saith 
also  in  another  psalm.  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption. 
36.  For  David,  after  he  had  served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on 
sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption  :  37.  But  He,  whom  God 
raised  again,  saw  no  corruption.  38.  Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore,  men  and 
brethren,  that  through  this  Man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins : 
39.  And  by  Him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could 
not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses.'— Acts  xiii.  26-39. 

The  extended  report  of  Paul's  sermon  in  the  synagogue 
at  Antioch  of  Pisidia  marks  it,  in  accordance  with  Luke's 
method,  as  the  first  of  a  series.  It  was  so  because, 
though  the  composition  of  the  audience  was  identical 
with  that  of  those  in  the  synagogues  of  Cyprus,  this 
was  the  beginning  of  the  special  work  of  the  tour,  the 
preaching  in  the  citieg  of  Asia  Minor.    The  part  of  the 


28  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [oh.  xiii. 

address  contained  in  the  passage  falls  into  three 
sections, — the  condensed  narrative  of  the  Gospel  facts 
(vs.  26-31),  the  proof  that  the  resurrection  was  prophe- 
sied (vs.  32-37),  and  the  pungent  personal  application 
(v.  38  to  end). 

I.  The  substance  of  the  narrative  coincides,  as  it 
could  not  but  do,  with  Peter's  sermons,  but  yet  with 
differences,  partly  due  to  the  different  audience,  partly 
to  Paul's  idiosyncrasy.  After  the  preceding  historical 
r^suinS,  he  girds  himself  to  his  proper  work  of  pro- 
claiming the  Gospel,  and  he  marks  the  transition  in 
verse  26  by  reiterating  his  introductory  words. 

His  audience  comprised  the  two  familiar  classes  of 
Jews  and  Gentile  proselytes,  and  he  seeks  to  win  the 
ears  of  both.  His  heart  goes  out  in  his  address  to  them 
all  as  'brethren,'and  in  his  classing  himself  and  Barnabas 
among  them  as  receivers  of  the  message  which  he  has 
to  proclaim.  What  skill,  if  it  were  not  something  much 
more  sacred,  even  humility  and  warm  love,  lies  in  that 
'  to  If s  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent ' !  He  will  not 
stand  above  them  as  if  he  had  any  other  possession 
of  his  message  than  they  might  have.  He,  too,  has 
received  it,  and  what  he  is  about  to  say  is  not  his  word, 
but  God's  message  to  them  and  him.  That  is  the  way 
to  preach. 

Notice,  too,  how  skilfully  he  introduces  the  narrative 
of  the  rejection  of  Jesus  as  the  reason  why  the  message 
has  now  come  to  them  his  hearers  away  in  Antioch. 
It  is  *  sent  forth '  '  to  us,'  Asiatic  Jews,  for  the  people  in 
the  sacred  city  would  not  have  it.  Paul  does  not  prick 
his  hearers'  consciences,  as  Peter  did,  by  charging  home 
the  guilt  of  the  rejection  of  Jesus  on  them.  They  had 
no  share  in  that  initial  crime.  There  is  a  faint  purpose 
of     dissociating    himself   and  his   hearers    from    the 


vs.  26-39]  PREACHING  IN  ASIA  MINOR,      29 

people  of  Jerusalem,  to  whom  the  Dispersion  were 
accustomed  to  look  up,  in  the  designation,  '  they  that 
dwell  in  Jerusalem,  and  their  rulers.'  Thus  far  the 
Antioch  Jews  had  had  hands  clean  from  that  crime; 
they  had  now  to  choose  whether  they  would  mix  them- 
selves up  with  it. 

We  may  further  note  that  Paul  says  nothing  about 
Christ's  life  of  gentle  goodness,  His  miracles  or  teach- 
ing, but  concentrates  attention  on  His  death  and 
resurrection.  From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry 
these  were  the  main  elements  of  his  *  Gospel '  (1  Cor. 
XV.  3,  4).  The  full  significance  of  that  death  is  not 
declared  here.  Probably  it  was  reserved  for  subsequent 
instruction.  But  it  and  the  Resurrection,  which  inter- 
preted it,  are  set  in  the  forefront,  as  they  should  always 
be.  The  main  point  insisted  on  is  that  the  men  of 
Jerusalem  were  fulfilling  prophecy  in  slaying  Jesus. 
With  tragic  deafness,  they  knew  not  the  voices  of  the 
prophets,  clear  and  unanimous  as  they  were,  though 
they  heard  them  every  Sabbath  of  their  lives,  and  yet 
they  fulfilled  them.  A  prophet's  words  had  just  been 
read  in  the  synagogue ;  Paul's  words  might  set  some 
hearer  asking  whether  a  veil  had  been  over  his  heart 
while  his  ears  had  heard  the  sound  of  the  word. 

The  Resurrection  is  established  by  the  only  evidence 
for  a  historical  fact,  the  testimony  of  competent  eye- 
witnesses. Their  competence  is  established  by  their 
familiar  companionship  with  Jesus  during  His  whole 
career;  their  opportunities  for  testing  the  reality  of 
the  fact,  by  the  *  many  days '  of  His  appearances. 

Paul  does  not  put  forward  his  own  testimony  to 
the  Resurrection,  though  we  know,  from  1  Corinthians 
XV.  8,  that  he  regarded  Christ's  appearance  to  him  as 
being  equally  valid  evidence  with  that  afforded  by  the 


30  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xm. 

other  appearances;  but  he  distinguishes  between  the 
work  of  the  Apostles,  as  '  witnesses  unto  the  people ' — 
that  is,  the  Jews  of  Palestine — and  that  of  Barnabas 
and  himself.  They  had  to  bear  the  message  to  the 
regions  beyond.  The  Apostles  and  he  had  the  same 
work,  but  different  spheres. 

II.  The  second  part  turns  with  more  personal  address 
to  his  hearers.  Its  purport  is  not  so  much  to  preach 
the  Resurrection,  which  could  only  be  proved  by  tes- 
timony, as  to  establish  the  fact  that  it  was  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promises  to  the  fathers.  Note  how  the 
idea  of  fulfilled  prophecy  runs  in  Paul's  head.  The 
Jews  had  fulfilled  it  by  their  crime ;  God  fulfilled  it  by 
the  Resurrection.  This  reiteration  of  a  key-word  is  a 
mark  of  Paul's  style  in  his  Epistles,  and  its  appearance 
here  attests  the  accuracy  of  the  report  of  his  speech. 

The  second  Psalm,  from  which  Paul's  first  quotation 
is  made,  is  prophetic  of  Christ,  inasmuch  as  it  repre- 
sents in  vivid  lyrical  language  the  vain  rebellion  of 
earthly  rulers  against  Messiah,  and  Jehovah's  establish- 
ing Him  and  His  kingdom  by  a  steadfast  decree.  Peter 
quoted  its  picture  of  the  rebels,  as  fulfilled  in  the  coali- 
tion of  Herod,  Pilate,  and  the  Jewish  rulers  against 
Christ.  The  Messianic  reference  of  the  Psalm,  then, 
was  already  seen ;  and  we  may  not  be  going  too  far  if 
we  assume  that  Jesus  Himself  had  included  it  among 
things  written  in  the  Psalms  'concerning  Himself,' 
which  He  had  explained  to  the  disciples  after  the 
Resurrection.  It  depicts  Jehovah  speaking  to  Messiah, 
after  the  futile  attempts  of  the  rebels :  '  This  day  have 
I  begotten  Thee.'  That  day  is  a  definite  point  in  time. 
The  Resurrection  was  a  birth  from  the  dead ;  so  Paul, 
in  Colossians  i.  18,  calls  Jesus  '  the  first  begotten  from 
the  dead.'    Romans  i.  4,   'declared  to  be  the  Son  of 


vs.  26-39]  PREACHING  IN  ASIA  MINOR      81 

God  ...  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,'  is  the 
best  commentary  on  Paul's  words  here. 

The  second  and  third  quotations  must  apparently  be 
combined,  for  the  second  does  not  specifically  refer  to 
resurrection,  but  it  promises  to  '  you,'  that  is  to  those 
who  obey  the  call  to  partake  in  the  Messianic  blessings, 
a  share  in  the  '  sure '  and  enduring  '  mercies  of  David ' ; 
and  the  third  quotation  shows  that  not  '  to  see  corrup- 
tion '  was  one  of  these  '  mercies.'  That  implies  that 
the  speaker  in  the  Psalm  was,  in  Paul's  view,  David, 
and  that  his  words  were  his  believing  answer  to  a 
divine  promise.  But  David  was  dead.  Had  the  '  sure 
mercy'  proved,  then,  a  broken  reed?  Not  so:  for 
Jesus,  who  is  Messiah,  and  is  God's  *  Holy  One '  in  a 
deeper  sense  than  David  was,  has  not  seen  corruption. 
The  Psalmist's  hopes  are  fulfilled  in  Him,  and  through 
Him,  in  all  who  will  *  eat '  that  their  *  souls  may  live.' 

III.  But  Paul's  yearning  for  his  brethren's  salvation 
is  not  content  with  proclaiming  the  fact  of  Christ's 
resurrection,  nor  with  pointing  to  it  as  fulfilling 
prophecy  ;  he  gathers  all  up  into  a  loving,  urgent  offer 
of  salvation  for  every  believing  soul,  and  solemn 
warning  to  despisers.  Here  the  whole  man  flames  out. 
Here  the  characteristic  evangelical  teaching,  which  is 
Bometimes  ticketed  as  '  Pauline '  by  way  of  stigma,  is 
heard.  Already  had  he  grasped  the  great  antithesis 
between  Law  and  Gospel.  Already  his  great  word 
'justified'  has  taken  its  place  in  his  terminology.  The 
essence  of  the  Epistles  to  Romans  and  Galatians  is 
here.  Justification  is  the  being  pronounced  and 
treated  as  not  guilty.  Law  cannot  justify.  '  In  Him  ' 
we  are  justified.  Observe  that  this  is  an  advance  on 
the  previous  statement  that  '  through  Him '  we  receive 
remission  of  sins. 


32  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xiii. 

'  In  Him '  points,  though  but  incidentally  and  slightly, 
to  the  great  truth  of  incorporation  with  Jesus,  of 
which  Paul  had  afterwards  so  much  to  write.  The 
justifying  in  Christ  is  complete  and  absolute.  And 
the  sole  sufficient  condition  of  receiving  it  is  faith. 
But  the  greater  the  glory  of  the  light  the  darker  the 
shadow  which  it  casts.  The  broad  offer  of  complete 
salvation  has  ever  to  be  accompanied  with  the  plain 
warning  of  the  dread  issue  of  rejecting  it.  Just  because 
it  is  so  free  and  full,  and  to  be  had  on  such  terms,  the 
warning  has  to  be  rung  into  deaf  ears,  *  Beware  there- 
fore ! '  Hope  and  fear  are  legitimately  appealed  to  by 
the  Christian  evangelist.  They  are  like  the  two  wings 
which  may  lift  the  soul  to  soar  to  its  safe  shelter  in 
the  Rock  of  Ages. 


LUTHER-A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN 

'  For  David,  after  he  had  served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on 
sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption :  37.  But  He,  whom  God 
raised  again,  saw  no  corruption.'— Acts  xiii.  36,  37. 

I  TAKE  these  words  as  a  motto  rather  than  as  a  text. 
You  will  have  anticipated  the  use  which  I  purpose  to 
make  of  them  in  connection  with  the  Luther  Com- 
memoration. They  set  before  us,  in  clear  sharp 
contrast,  the  distinction  between  the  limited,  transient 
work  of  the  servants  and  the  unbounded,  eternal 
influence  of  the  Master.  The  former  are  servants,  and 
that  but  for  a  time ;  they  do  their  work,  they  are  laid 
in  the  grave,  and  as  their  bodies  resolve  into  their 
elements,  so  their  influence,  their  teaching,  the  in- 
stitutions which  they  may  have  founded,  disintegrate 
and  decay.  He  lives.  His  relation  to  the  world  is  not 
as  theirs;  He  is  'not   for  an  age,  but  for  all  time.' 


vs  36,37]  A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN  33 

Death  is  not  the  end  of  His  work.  His  Cross  is  the 
eternal  foundation  of  the  world's  hope.  His  life  is 
the  ultimate,  perfect  revelation  of  the  divine  Nature 
which  can  never  be  surpassed,  or  fathomed,  or  anti- 
quated. Therefore  the  last  thought,  in  all  commemora- 
tions of  departed  teachers  and  guides,  should  be  of 
Him  who  gave  them  all  the  force  that  they  had ;  and 
the  final  word  should  be :  '  They  were  not  suffered  to 
continue  by  reason  of  death,  this  Man  continueth  ever.' 

In  the  same  spirit  then  as  the  words  of  my  text, 
and  taking  them  as  giving  me  little  more  than  a 
starting-point  and  a  framework,  I  draw  from  them 
some  thoughts  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

I.  First,  we  have  to  think  about  the  limited  and 
transient  work  of  this  great  servant  of  God. 

The  miner's  son,  who  was  born  in  that  little  Saxon 
village  four  hundred  years  ago,  presents  at  first  sight 
a  character  singularly  unlike  the  traditional  type  of 
mediaeval  Church  fathers  and  saints.  Their  ascetic 
habits,  and  the  repressive  system  under  which  they 
were  trained,  withdraw  them  from  our  sympathy ;  but 
this  sturdy  peasant,  with  his  full-blooded  humanity, 
unmistakably  a  man,  and  a  man  all  round,  is  a  new  type, 
and  looks  strangely  out  of  place  amongst  doctors  and 
mediaeval  saints. 

His  character,  though  not  complex,  is  many-sided  and 
in  some  respects  contradictory.  The  face  and  figure 
that  look  out  upon  us  from  the  best  portraits  of  Luther 
tell  us  a  great  deal  about  the  man.  Strong,  massive, 
not  at  all  elegant ;  he  stands  there,  firm  and  resolute, 
on  his  own  legs,  grasping  a  Bible  in  a  muscular  hand. 
There  is  plenty  of  animalism — a  source  of  power  as 
well  as  of  weakness — in  the  thick  neck;  an  iron  will 
in  the  square  chin;  eloquence  on  the  full,  loose  lips; 

VOL.  II.  c 


34  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

a  mystic,  dreamy  tenderness  and  sadness  in  the  steadfast 
eyes— altogether  a  true  king  and  a  leader  of  men ! 

The  first  things  that  strike  one  in  the  character  are 
the  iron  will  that  would  not  waver,  the  indomitable 
courage  that  knew  no  fear,  the  splendid  audacity  that, 
single-handed,  sprang  into  the  arena  for  a  contest  to 
the  death  with  Pope,  Emperors,  superstitions,  and 
devils;  the  insight  that  saw  the  things  that  were 
'hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent,'  and  the  answering 
sincerity  that  would  not  hide  what  he  saw,  nor  say 
that  he  saw  what  he  did  not. 

But  there  was  a  great  deal  more  than  that  in  the 
man.  He  was  no  mere  brave  revolutionary,  he  was 
a  cultured  scholar,  abreast  of  all  the  learning  of  his 
age,  capable  of  logic-chopping  and  scholastic  disputa- 
tion on  occasion,  and  but  too  often  the  victim  of  his 
own  over-subtle  refinements.  He  was  a  poet,  with  a 
poet's  dreaminess  and  waywardness,  fierce  alternations 
of  light  and  shade,  sorrow  and  joy.  All  living  things 
whispered  and  spoke  to  him,  and  he  walked  in  com- 
munion with  them  all.  Little  children  gathered  round 
his  feet,  and  he  had  a  big  heart  of  love  for  all  the 
weary  and  the  sorrowful. 

Everybody  knows  how  he  could  write  and  speak. 
He  made  the  German  language,  as  we  may  say,  lifting 
it  up  from  a  dialect  of  boors  to  become  the  rich,  flexible, 
cultured  speech  that  it  is.  And  his  Bible,  his  single- 
handed  work,  is  one  of  the  colossal  achievements  of 
man;  like  Stonehenge  or  the  Pyramids.  'His  words 
were  half -battles,' '  they  were  living  creatures  that  had 
hands  and  feet';  his  speech,  direct,  strong,  homely, 
ready  to  borrow  words  from  the  kitchen  or  the  gutter, 
is  unmatched  for  popular  eloquence  and  impression. 
There  was  music  in  the  man.    His  flute  solaced  his 


vs.  36, 37]   A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN  35 

lonely  hours  in  his  home  at  Wittemberg;  and  the 
Marseillaise  of  the  Reformation,  as  that  grand  hymn 
of  his  has  been  called,  came,  words  and  music,  from 
his  heart.  There  was  humour  in  him,  coarse  horseplay 
often ;  an  honest,  hearty,  broad  laugh  frequently,  like 
that  of  a  Norse  god.  There  were  coarse  tastes  in  him, 
tastes  of  the  peasant  folk  from  whom  he  came,  which 
clung  to  him  through  life,  and  kept  him  in  sympathy 
with  the  common  people,  and  intelligible  to  them. 
And  withal  there  was  a  constitutional  melancholy, 
aggravated  by  his  weary  toils,  perilous  fightings,  and 
fierce  throes,  which  led  him  down  often  into  the  deep 
mire  where  there  was  no  standing;  and  which  sighs 
through  all  his  life.  The  penitential  Psalms  and  Paul's 
wail:  'O  wretched  man  that  I  am.'  perhaps  never 
woke  more  plaintive  echo  in  any  human  heart  than 
they  did  in  Martin  Luther's. 

Faults  he  had,  gross  and  plain  as  the  heroic  mould 
in  which  he  was  cast.  He  was  vehement  and  fierce 
often ;  he  was  coarse  and  violent  often.  He  saw  what 
he  did  see  so  clearly,  that  he  was  slow  to  believe  that 
there  was  anything  that  he  did  not  see.  He  was 
oblivious  of  counterbalancing  considerations,  and  given 
to  exaggerated,  incautious,  unguarded  statements  of 
precious  truths.  He  too  often  aspired  to  be  a  driver 
rather  than  a  leader  of  men ;  and  his  strength  of  will 
became  obstinacy  and  tyranny.  It  was  too  often  true 
that  he  had  dethroned  the  pope  of  Rome  to  set  up 
a  pope  at  Wittemberg.  And  foul  personalities  came 
from  his  lips,  according  to  the  bad  controversial  fashion 
of  his  day,  which  permitted  a  licence  to  scholars  that 
we  now  forbid  to  fishwives. 

All  that  has  to  be  admitted ;  and  when  it  is  all 
admitted,  what  then  ?    This  is  a  fastidious  generation ; 


36  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiii. 

Erasmus  is  its  heroic  type  a  great  deal  more  than 
Luther — I  mean  among  the  cultivated  classes  of  our 
day — and  that  very  largely  because  in  Erasmus  there 
is  no  quick  sensibility  to  religious  emotion  as  there 
is  in  Luther,  and  no  inconvenient  fervour.  The  faults 
are  there — coarse,  plain,  palpable — and  perhaps  more 
than  enough  has  been  made  of  them.  Let  us  remember, 
as  to  his  violence,  that  he  was  following  the  fashion 
of  the  day ;  that  he  was  fighting  for  his  life ;  that 
when  a  man  is  at  death-grips  with  a  tiger  he  may  be 
pardoned  if  he  strikes  without  considering  whether  he 
is  going  to  spoil  the  skin  or  not;  and  that  on  the 
whole  you  cannot  throttle  snakes  in  a  graceful  attitude. 
Men  fought  then  with  bludgeons ;  they  fight  now  with 
dainty  polished  daggers,  dipped  in  cold,  colourless  poison 
of  sarcasm.  Perhaps  there  was  less  malice  in  the 
rougher  old  way  than  in  the  new. 

The  faults  are  there,  and  nobody  who  is  not  a  fool 
would  think  of  painting  that  homely  Saxon  peasant- 
monk's  face  without  the  warts  and  the  wrinkles.  But 
it  is  quite  as  unhistorical,  and  a  great  deal  more 
wicked,  to  paint  nothing  but  the  warts  and  wrinkles ; 
to  rake  all  the  faults  together  and  make  the  most  of 
them ;  and  present  them  in  answer  to  the  question  : 
'  What  sort  of  a  man  was  Martin  Luther  ? ' 

As  to  the  work  that  he  did,  like  the  work  of  all  of 
us,  it  had  its  limitations,  and  it  will  have  its  end.  The 
impulse  that  he  communicated,  like  all  impulses  that 
are  given  from  men,  will  wear  out  its  force.  New 
questions  will  arise  of  which  the  dead  leaders  never 
dreamed,  and  in  which  they  can  give  no  counsel.  The 
perspective  of  theological  thought  will  alter,  the  centre 
of  interest  will  change,  a  new  dialect  will  begin  to  be 
spoken.    So  it  comes  to  pass  that  all  religious  teachers 


vs.  36, 37]  A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN  37 

and  thinkers  are  left  behind,  and  that  their  words  are 
preserved  and  read  rather  for  their  antiquarian  and 
historical  interest  than  because  of  any  impulse  or 
direction  for  the  present  which  may  linger  in  them ; 
and  if  they  founded  institutions,  these  too,  in  their 
time,  will  crumble  and  disappear. 

But  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  truths  which 
Luther  rescued  from  the  dust  of  centuries,  and  im- 
pressed upon  the  conscience  of  Teutonic  Europe,  are 
getting  antiquated.  I  only  mean  that  his  connection 
with  them  and  his  way  of  putting  them,  had  its  limita- 
tions and  will  have  its  end:  'This  man,  having  served 
his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  was  gathered 
to  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption.' 

What  ivere  the  truths,  what  was  his  contribution  to 
the  illumination  of  Europe,  and  to  the  Church  ?  Three 
great  principles — which  perhaps  closer  analysis  might 
reduce  to  one ;  but  which  for  popular  use,  on  such  an 
occasion  as  the  present,  had  better  be  kept  apart — will 
state  his  service  to  the  world. 

There  were  three  men  in  the  past  who,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  reach  out  their  hands  to  one  another  across  the 
centuries — Paul,  St.  Augustine,  and  Martin  Luther. 
The  three  very  like  each  other,  all  three  of  them 
joining  the  same  subtle  speculative  power  with  the 
same  capacity  of  religious  fervour,  and  of  flaming  up 
at  the  contemplation  of  divine  truth ;  all  of  them 
gifted  with  the  same  exuberant,  and  to  fastidious  eyes, 
incorrect  eloquence ;  all  three  trained  in  a  school  of 
religious  thought  of  which  each  respectively  was 
destined  to  be  the  antagonist  and  all  but  the  destroyer. 

The  young  Pharisee,  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  blinded, 
bewildered,  with  all  that  vision  flaming  upon  him,  sees 
in  its  light  his  past,  which  he  thought  had  been  so 


38  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

pure,  and  holy,  and  God-serving,  and  amazedly  dis- 
covers that  it  had  been  all  a  sin  and  a  crime,  and  a 
persecution  of  the  divine  One.  Beaten  from  every 
refuge,  and  lying  there,  he  cries :  '  What  wouldst  Thou 
have  me  to  do,  Lord?' 

The  young  Manichean  and  profligate  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  the  young  monk  in  his  convent  in  the 
fifteenth,  passed  through  a  similar  experience ; — differ- 
ent in  form,  identical  in  substance — with  that  of  Paul 
the  persecutor.  And  so  Paul's  Gospel,  which  was  the 
description  and  explanation,  the  rationale,  of  his  own 
experience,  became  their  Gospel ;  and  when  Paul  said  : 
'  Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  our  own  hands 
have  done,  but  by  His  mercy  He  saved  us '  (Titus  iii.  5), 
the  great  voice  from  the  North  African  shore,  in  the 
midst  of  the  agonies  of  barbarian  invasions  and  a 
falling  Rome,  said  'Amen.  Man  lives  by  faith,'  and 
the  voice  from  the  Wittemberg  convent,  a  thousand 
years  after,  amidst  the  unspeakable  corruption  of  that 
phosphorescent  and  decaying  Renaissance,  answered 
across  the  centuries,  '  It  is  true ! '  '  Herein  is  the 
righteousness  of  God  revealed  from  faith  to  faith.' 
Luther's  word  to  the  world  was  Augustine's  word  to 
the  world  ;  and  Luther  and  Augustine  were  the  echoes 
of  Saul  of  Tarsus — and  Paul  learned  his  theology  on 
the  Damascus  road,  when  the  voice  bade  him  go  and 
proclaim  '  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among 
them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  Me '  (Acts 
xxvi.  18).  That  is  Luther's  first  claim  on  our  gratitude, 
that  he  took  this  truth  from  the  shelves  where  it  had 
reposed,  dust-covered,  through  centuries,  that  he  lifted 
this  truth  from  the  bier  where  it  had  lain,  smothered 
with  sacerdotal  garments,  and  called  with  a  loud  voice, 
•  I  say  unto  thee,  arise ! '  and  that  now  the  common- 


vs.  36, 37]  A  STONE  ON  THE  CATRN  39 

place  of  Christianity  is  this :  All  men  are  sinful  men, 
justice  condemns  us  all,  our  only  hope  is  God's  infinite 
mercy,  that  mercy  comes  to  us  all  in  Jesus  Christ 
that  died  for  us,  and  he  that  gets  that  into  his  heart  by 
simple  faith,  he  is  forgiven,  pure,  and  he  is  an  heir  of 
Heaven. 

There  are  other  aspects  of  Christian  truth  which 
Luther  failed  to  apprehend.  The  Gospel  is,  of  course, 
not  merely  a  way  of  reconciliation  and  forgiveness. 
He  pushed  his  teaching  of  the  uselessness  of  good  works 
as  a  means  of  salvation  too  far.  He  said  rash  and 
exaggerated  things  in  his  vehement  way  about  the 
'justifying  power'  of  faith  alone.  Doubtless  his  lan- 
guage was  often  overstrained,  and  his  thoughts  one- 
sided, in  regard  to  subjects  that  need  very  delicate 
handling  and  careful  definition.  But  after  all  this  is 
admitted,  it  remains  true  that  his  strong  arm  tossed 
aside  the  barriers  and  rubbish  that  had  been  piled 
across  the  way  by  which  prodigals  could  go  home  to 
their  Father,  and  made  plain  once  more  the  endless 
mercy  of  God,  and  the  power  of  humble  faith.  He  was 
right  when  he  declared  that  whatever  heights  and 
depths  there  may  be  in  God's  great  revelation,  and 
however  needful  it  is  for  a  complete  apprehension  of 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  that  these  should  find  their 
place  in  the  creed  of  Christendom,  still  the  firmness 
with  which  that  initial  truth  of  man's  sinfulness  and 
his  forgiveness  and  acceptance  through  simple  faith  in 
Christ  is  held,  and  the  clear  earnestness  with  which  it 
is  proclaimed,  are  the  test  of  a  standing  or  a  falling 
Church. 

And  then  closely  connected  with  this  central  prin- 
ciple, and  yet  susceptible  of  being  stated  separately, 
are  the  other  two;  of  neither  of  which  do  I  think  it 


40  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xm. 

necessary  to  say  more  than  a  word.  Following  on 
that  great  discovery — for  it  was  a  discovery — by  the 
monk  in  his  convent,  of  justification  by  faith,  there 
comes  the  other  principle  of  the  entire  sweeping 
away  of  all  priesthood,  and  the  direct  access  to  God  of 
every  individual  Christian  soul.  There  are  no  more 
external  rites  to  be  done  by  a  designated  and  separate 
class.  There  is  one  sacrificing  Priest,  and  one  only, 
and  that  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  sacrificed  Himself 
for  us  all,  and  there  are  no  other  priests,  except  in  the 
sense  in  which  every  Christian  man  is  a  priest  and 
minister  of  the  most  high  God.  And  no  man  comes 
between  me  and  my  Father ;  and  no  man  has  power  to 
do  anything  for  me  which  brings  me  any  grace,  except 
in  so  far  as  mine  own  heart  opens  for  the  reception,  and 
mine  own  faith  lays  hold  of  the  grace  given. 

Luther  did  not  carry  that  principle  so  far  as  some  of 
us  modern  Nonconformists  carry  it.  He  left  illogical 
fragments  of  sacramentarian  and  sacerdotal  theories 
in  his  creed  and  in  his  Church.  But,  for  all  that,  we  owe 
mainly  to  him  the  clear  utterance  of  that  thought,  the 
warm  breath  of  which  has  thawed  the  ice  chains  which 
held  Europe  in  barren  bondage.  Notwithstanding  the 
present  portentous  revival  of  sacerdotalism,  and  the 
strange  turning  again  of  portions  of  society  to  these 
beggarly  elements  of  the  past,  I  believe  that  the 
figments  of  a  sacrificing  priesthood  and  sacramental 
efticacy  will  never  again  permanently  darken  the  sky 
in  this  land,  the  home  of  the  men  who  speak  the  tongue 
of  Milton,  and  owe  much  of  their  religious  and  political 
freedom  to  the  reformation  of  Luther. 

And  the  third  point,  which  is  closely  connected  with 
these  other  two,  is  this,  the  declaration  that  every 
illuminated  Christian  soul  has  a  right  and  is  bound  to 


vs.  36, 37]  A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN  41 

study  God's  Word  without  the  Church  at  his  elbow  to 
teach  him  what  to  think  about  it.  It  was  Luther's  great 
achievement  that,  whatever  else  he  did,  he  put  the 
Bible  into  the  hands  of  the  common  people.  In  that 
department  and  region,  his  work  perhaps  bears  more 
distinctly  the  traces  of  limitation  and  imperfection 
than  anywhere  else,  for  he  knew  nothing — how  could 
he  ?— of  the  difficult  questions  of  this  day  in  regard  to 
the  composition  and  authority  of  Scripture,  nor  had  he 
thought  out  his  own  system  or  done  full  justice  to  his 
own  principle. 

He  could  be  as  inquisitorial  and  as  dogmatic  as  any 
Dominican  of  them  all.  He  believed  in  force ;  he  was 
as  ready  as  all  his  fellows  were  to  invoke  the  aid  of 
the  temporal  power.  The  idea  of  the  Church,  as  helped 
and  sustained — which  means  fettered,  and  weakened, 
and  paralysed  —  by  the  civic  government,  bewitched 
him  as  it  did  his  fellows.  We  needed  to  wait  for  George 
Fox,  and  Roger  Williams,  and  more  modern  names 
still,  before  we  understood  fully  what  was  involved  in 
the  rejection  of  priesthood,  and  the  claim  that  God's 
Word  should  speak  directly  to  each  Christian  soul. 
But  for  all  that,  we  largely  owe  to  Luther  the  creed 
that  looks  in  simple  faith  to  Christ,  a  Church  without 
a  priest,  in  which  every  man  is  a  priest  of  the  Most 
High,— the  only  true  democracy  that  the  world  will 
ever  see — and  a  Church  in  which  the  open  Bible  and 
the  indwelling  Spirit  are  the  guides  of  every  humble 
soul  within  its  pale.  These  are  his  claims  on  our 
gratitude. 

Luther's  work  had  its  limitations  and  its  imperfec- 
tions, as  I  have  been  saying  to  you.  It  will  become 
less  and  less  conspicuous  as  the  ages  go  on.  It  cannot 
be  otherwise.     That  is  the  law  of  the  world.     As  a 


42  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [cn.xiii. 

whole  green  forest  of  the  carboniferous  era  is  repre- 
sented now  in  the  rocks  by  a  thin  seam  of  coal,  no 
thicker  than  a  sheet  of  paper,  so  the  stormy  lives  and 
the  large  works  of  the  men  that  have  gone  before,  are 
compressed  into  a  mere  film  and  line,  in  the  great  cliff 
that  slowly  rises  above  the  sea  of  time  and  is  called  the 
history  of  the  world. 

II.  Be  it  so ;  be  it  so !  Let  us  turn  to  the  other  thought 
of  our  text,  the  perpetual  work  of  the  abiding  Lord. 

'  He  whom  God  raised  up  saw  no  corruption.'  It  is 
a  fact  that  there  are  thousands  of  men  and  women 
in  the  world  to-day  who  have  a  feeling  about  that 
nineteen-ccnturies-dead  Galilean  carpenter's  son  that 
they  have  about  no  one  else.  All  the  great  names  of 
antiquity  are  but  ghosts  and  shadows,  and  all  the 
names  in  the  Church  and  in  the  world,  of  men  whom 
we  have  not  seen,  are  dim  and  ineffectual  to  us.  They 
may  evoke  our  admiration,  our  reverence,  and  our 
wonder,  but  none  of  them  can  touch  our  hearts.  But 
here  is  this  unique,  anomalous  fact  that  men  and 
women  by  the  thousand  love  Jesus  Christ,  the  dead 
One,  the  unseen  One,  far  away  back  there  in  the  ages, 
and  feel  that  there  is  no  mist  of  oblivion  between  them 
and  Him. 

That  is  because  He  does  for  you  and  me  what  none 
of  these  other  men  can  do.  Luther  preached  about  the 
Cross  ;  Christ  died  on  it.  '  Was  Paul  crucified  for  you  ?' 
there  is  the  secret  of  His  undying  hold  upon  the  world. 
The  further  secret  lies  in  this,  that  He  is  not  a  past 
force  but  a  present  one.  He  is  no  exhausted  power  but 
a  power  mighty  to-day ;  working  in  us,  around  us,  on 
us,  and  for  us — a  living  Christ.  *  This  Man  whom  God 
raised  up  from  the  dead  saw  no  corruption,'  the  others 
move  away  from  us  like  figures  in  a  fog,  dim  as  they 


vs.  36,37]   A  STONE  ON  THE  CAIRN  43 

pass  into  the  mists,  having  a  blurred  half-spectral 
outline  for  a  moment,  and  then  gone. 

Christ's  death  has  a  present  and  a  perpetual  povrer.  He 
has  '  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever ' ;  and  no  time 
can  diminish  the  efficacy  of  His  Cross,  nor  our  need  of 
it,  nor  the  full  tide  of  blessings  v^^hich  flow  from  it  to 
the  believing  soul.  Therefore  do  men  cling  to  Him  to- 
day as  if  it  was  but  yesterday  that  He  had  died  for 
them.  When  all  other  names  carved  on  the  world's 
records  have  become  unreadable,  like  forgotten  inscrip- 
tions on  decaying  grave-stones.  His  shall  endure  for 
ever,  deep  graven  on  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart. 
His  revelation  of  God  is  the  highest  truth.  Till  the 
end  of  time  men  will  turn  to  His  life  for  their  clearest 
knowledge  and  happiest  certainty  of  their  Father  in 
heaven.  There  is  nothing  limited  or  local  in  His  char- 
acter or  works.  In  His  meek  beauty  and  gentle  per- 
fectness,  He  stands  so  high  above  us  all  that,  to-day, 
the  inspiration  of  His  example  and  the  lessons  of  His 
conduct  touch  us  as  much  as  if  He  had  lived  in  this 
generation,  and  will  always  shine  before  men  as  their 
best  and  most  blessed  law  of  conduct.  Christ  will  not 
be  antiquated  till  He  is  outgrown,  and  it  will  be  some 
time  before  that  happens. 

But  Christ's  power  is  not  only  the  abiding  influence 
of  His  earthly  life  and  death.  He  is  not  a  past  force, 
but  a  present  one.  He  is  putting  forth  fresh  energies 
to-day,  working  in  and  for  and  by  all  who  love  Him. 
We  believe  in  a  living  Christ. 

Therefore  the  final  thought,  in  all  our  grateful  com- 
memoration of  dead  helpers  and  guides,  should  be  of 
the  undying  Lord.  He  sent  whatsoever  power  was  in 
them.  He  is  with  His  Church  to-day,  still  giving  to 
men  the  gifts  needful  for  their  times.    Aaron  may  die 


44  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii, 

on  Hor,  and  Moses  be  laid  in  his  unknown  grave  on 
Pisgah,  but  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  who  is  the  true 
Leader,  abides  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  Israel's 
guide  in  the  march,  and  covering  shelter  in  repose. 
That  is  our  consolation  in  our  personal  losses  when  our 
dear  ones  are  'not  suffered  to  continue  by  reason  of 
death.'  He  who  gave  them  all  their  sweetness  is  with 
us  still,  and  has  all  the  sweetness  which  He  lent  them 
for  a  time.  So  if  we  have  Christ  with  us  we  cannot 
be  desolate.  Looking  on  all  the  men,  who  in  their  turn 
have  helped  forward  His  cause  a  little  way,  we  should 
let  their  departure  teach  us  His  presence,  their  limita- 
tions His  all-sufficiency,  their  death  His  life. 

Luther  was  once  found,  at  a  moment  of  peril  and 
fear,  when  he  had  need  to  grasp  unseen  strength,  sitting 
in  an  abstracted  mood,  tracing  on  the  table  with  his 
finger  the  words  'Vivit!  vivitf — *He  lives!  He  lives!' 
It  is  our  hope  for  ourselves,  and  for  God's  truth,  and  for 
mankind.  Men  come  and  go ;  leaders,  teachers,  thinkers 
speak  and  work  for  a  season  and  then  fall  silent  and 
impotent.  He  abides.  They  die,  but  He  lives.  They 
are  lights  kindled,  and  therefore  sooner  or  later 
quenched,  but  He  is  the  true  light  from  which  they 
draw  all  their  brightness,  and  He  shines  for  evermore. 
Other  men  are  left  behind  and,  as  the  world  glides  for- 
ward, are  wrapped  in  ever-thickening  folds  of  oblivion, 
through  which  they  shine  feebly  for  a  little  while,  like 
lamps  in  a  fog,  and  then  are  muffled  in  invisibility.  We 
honour  other  names,  and  the  coming  generations  will 
forget  them,  but '  His  name  shall  endure  for  ever.  His 
name  shall  continue  as  long  as  the  sun,  and  men  shall 
be  blessed  in  Him ;  all  nations  shall  call  Him  blessed.' 


JEWISH  REJECTERS  AND  GENTILE 
RECEIVERS 

'And  the  next  Sabbath  day  came  almost  the  whole  city  together  to  hear  the 
word  of  God.  45.  But  when  the  Jews  saw  the  multitudes,  they  were  filled  with 
envy,  and  spake  against  those  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul,  contradicting 
and  blaspheming.  46.  Then  Paul  and  Barnabas  waxed  bold,  and  said,  It  was 
necessary  that  the  word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you  :  but  seeing 
ye  put  it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,  we  turn 
to  the  Gentiles.  47.  For  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee 
to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  48.  And  when  the  Gentiles  heard  this,  they  were  glad,  and  glorified 
the  word  of  the  Lord :  and  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed. 
49.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  published  throughout  all  the  region.  50.  But 
the  Jews  stirred  up  the  devout  and  honourable  women,  and  the  chief  men  of  the 
city,  and  raised  persecution  against  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  expelled  them  out 
of  their  coasts.  51.  But  they  shook  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them,  and 
came  unto  Iconium,  52.  And  the  disciples  were  filled  with  joy,  and  with  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

'  And  it  came  to  pass  in  Iconium,  that  they  went  both  together  into  the  syna- 
gogue of  the  Jews,  and  so  spake,  that  a  great  multitude  both  of  the  Jews  and  also 
of  the  Greeks  believed.  2.  But  the  unbelieving  Jews  stirred  up  the  Gentiles,  and 
made  their  minds  evil  affected  against  the  brethren.  3.  Long  time  therefore 
abode  they  speaking  boldly  in  the  Lord,  which  gave  testimony  unto  the  word  of 
His  grace,  and  granted  signs  and  wonders  to  be  done  by  their  hands.  4.  But  the 
multitude  of  the  city  was  divided :  and  part  held  with  the  Jews,  and  part  with 
the  Apostles.  5.  And  when  there  was  an  assault  made  both  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
also  of  the  Jews  with  their  rulers,  to  use  them  despitefully,  and  to  stone  them, 
6.  They  were  ware  of  it,  and  fled  unto  Lystra  and  Derbe,  cities  of  Lycaonia,  and 
unto  the  region  that  lieth  round  about :  7.  And  there  they  preached  the  Gospel.' 
—Acts  xiii.  44-52 ;  xiv.  1-7. 

In  general  outline,  the  course  of  events  in  the  two 
great  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  with  which  the  present 
passage  is  concerned,  was  the  same.  It  was  only  too 
faithful  a  forecast  of  what  was  to  be  Paul's  experience 
everywhere.  The  stages  are:  preaching  in  the  syna- 
gogue, rejection  there,  appeal  to  the  Gentiles,  reception 
by  them,  a  little  nucleus  of  believers  formed ;  dis- 
turbances fomented  by  the  Jews,  who  swallow  their 
hatred  of  Gentiles  by  reason  of  their  greater  hatred 
of  the  Apostles,  and  will  riot  with  heathens,  though 
they  will  not  pray  nor  eat  with  them  ;  and  finally  the 
Apostles'  departure  to  carry  the  gospel  farther  afield. 
This  being  the  outline,  we  have  mainly  to  consider  any 
special  features  diversifying  it  in  each  case. 


46  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

Their  experience  in  Antioch  was  important,  because 
it  forced  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  put  into  plain  words, 
making  very  clear  to  themselves  as  well  as  to  their 
hearers,  the  law  of  their  future  conduct.  It  is  always 
a  step  in  advance  when  circumstances  oblige  us  to 
formularise  our  method  of  action.  Words  have  a 
wonderful  power  in  clearing  up  our  own  vision.  Paul 
and  Barnabas  had  known  all  along  that  they  were  sent 
to  the  Gentiles;  but  a  conviction  in  the  mind  is  one 
thing,  and  the  same  conviction  driven  in  on  us  by  facts 
is  quite  another.  The  discipline  of  Antioch  crystallised 
floating  intentions  into  a  clear  statement,  which  hence- 
forth became  the  rule  of  Paul's  conduct.  Well  for  us 
if  we  have  open  eyes  to  discern  the  meaning  of 
difficulties,  and  promptitude  and  decision  to  fix  and 
speak  out  plainly  the  course  which  they  prescribe ! 

The  miserable  motives  of  the  Jews'  antagonism  are 
forcibly  stated  in  vs.  44,  45.  They  did  not  *  contradict 
and  blaspheme,'  because  they  had  taken  a  week  to 
think  over  the  preaching  and  had  seen  its  falseness, 
but  simply  because,  dog-in-the-manger  like,  they  could 
not  bear  that  '  the  whole  city '  should  be  welcome  to 
share  the  message.  No  doubt  there  was  a  crowd  of 
'Gentile  dogs'  thronging  the  approach  to  the  syna- 
gogue ;  and  one  can  almost  see  the  scowling  faces  and 
hear  the  rustle  of  the  robes  drawn  closer  to  avoid 
pollution.  Who  were  these  wandering  strangers  that 
they  should  gather  such  a  crowd?  And  what  had  the 
uncircumcised  rabble  of  Antioch  to  do  with  'the 
promises  made  to  the  fathers'?  It  is  not  the  only 
time  that  religious  men  have  taken  offence  at  crowds 
gathering  to  hear  God's  word.  Let  us  take  care  that 
we  do  not  repeat  the  sin.  There  are  always  some 
who — 


vs.  44-52;  1-7]    REJECTERS  :  RECEIVERS      47 

'  Taking  God's  word  under  wise  protection, 
Correct  its  tendency  to  diffusiveness.' 

It  needed  some  courage  to  front  the  wild  excitement  of 
such  a  mob,  with  calm,  strong  words  likely  to  increase 
the  rage. 

*Lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles.'  This  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  announcing  a  general  course  of  action, 
but  simply  as  applying  to  the  actual  rejecters  in 
Antioch.  The  necessity  that  the  word  should  first  be 
spoken  to  the  Jews  continued  to  be  recognised,  in  each 
new  sphere  of  work,  by  the  Apostle ;  but  wherever,  as 
here,  men  turned  from  the  message,  the  messengers 
turned  from  them  without  further  waste  of  time. 
Paul  put  into  words  here  the  law  for  his  whole  career. 
The  fit  punishment  of  rejection  is  the  withdrawal  of 
the  offer.  There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  per- 
sistence with  which,  in  place  after  place,  Paul  goes 
through  the  same  sequence,  his  heart  yearning 
over  his  brethren  according,  to  the  flesh,  and  hoping 
on,  after  all  repulses.  It  was  far  more  than  natural 
patriotism ;  it  was  an  offshoot  of  Christ's  own  patient 
love. 

Note  also  the  divine  command.  Paul  bases  his 
action  on  a  prophecy  as  to  the  Messiah.  But  the 
relation  on  which  prophecy  insists  between  the  per- 
sonal servant  of  Jehovah  and  the  collective  Israel,  is 
such  that  the  great  office  of  being  the  Light  of  the 
world  devolves  from  Him  on  it  and  the  true  Israel  is 
to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles.  These  very  Jews  in 
Antioch,  lashing  themselves  into  fury  because  Gentiles 
were  to  be  offered  a  share  in  Israel's  blessings,  ought 
to  have  been  discharging  this  glorious  function.  Their 
failure  showed  that  they  were  no  parts  of  the  real 
Israel.     No  doubt  the  two  missionaries  left  the  syna- 


48  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiii. 

gogue  as  they  spoke,  and,  as  the  door  swung  behind 
them,  it  shut  hope  out  and  unbelief  in.  The  air  was 
fresh  outside,  and  eager  hearts  welcomed  the  word. 
Very  beautifully  is  the  gladness  of  the  Gentile  hearers 
set  in  contrast  with  the  temper  of  the  Jews.  It  is 
strange  news  to  heathen  hearts  that  there  is  a  God 
who  loves  them,  and  a  divine  Christ  who  has  died  for 
them.  The  experience  of  many  a  missionary  follows 
Paul's  here. 

*  As  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed.' 
The  din  of  many  a  theological  battle  has  raged  round 
these  words,  the  writer  of  which  would  have  probably 
needed  a  good  deal  of  instruction  before  he  could  have 
been  made  to  understand  what  the  fighting  was  about. 
But  it  is  to  be  noted  that  there  is  evidently  intended  a 
contrast  between  the  envious  Jews  and  the  gladly 
receptive  Gentiles,  which  is  made  more  obvious  by  the 
repetition  of  the  words  •  eternal  life.'  It  would  seem 
much  more  relevant  and  accordant  with  the  context  to 
understand  the  word  rendered  '  ordained '  as  meaning 
•  adapted '  or  '  fitted,'  than  to  find  in  it  a  reference  to 
divine  foreordination.  Such  a  meaning  is  legitimate, 
and  strongly  suggested  by  the  context.  The  reference 
then  would  be  to  the  '  frame  of  mind  of  the  heathen, 
and  not  to  the  decrees  of  God.' 

The  only  points  needing  notice  in  the  further  develop- 
ments at  Antioch  are  the  agents  employed  by  the  Jews, 
the  conduct  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  sweet  little  picture 
of  the  converts.  As  to  the  former,  piously  inclined 
women  in  a  heathen  city  would  be  strongly  attracted 
by  Judaism  and  easily  lend  themselves  to  the  impres- 
sions of  their  teachers.  We  know  that  many  women 
of  rank  were  at  that  period  powerfully  affected  in  this 
manner ;  and  if  a  Rabbi  could  move  a  Gentile  of  in- 


vs.  44-52  ;  1-7]     REJECTERS  :  RECEIVERS     49 

fluence  through  whispers  to  the  Gentile's  wife,  he  would 
not  be  slow  to  do  it.  The  ease  with  which  the  Jews 
stirred  up  tumults  everywhere  against  the  Apostle 
indicates  their  possession  of  great  influence ;  and  their 
willingness  to  be  hand  in  glove  with  heathen  for  so 
laudable  an  object  as  crushing  one  of  their  own  people 
who  had  become  a  heretic,  measures  the  venom  of 
their  hate  and  the  depth  of  their  unscrupulousness. 

The  Apostles  had  not  to  fear  violence,  as  their 
enemies  were  content  with  turning  them  out  of 
Antioch  and  its  neighbourhood;  but  they  obeyed 
Christ's  command,  shaking  off  the  dust  against  them, 
in  token  of  renouncing  all  connection.  The  significant 
act  is  a  trace  of  early  knowledge  of  Christ's  words, 
long  before  the  date  of  our  Gospels. 

While  the  preachers  had  to  leave  the  little  flock  in 
the  midst  of  wolves,  there  was  peace  in  the  fold.  Like 
the  Ethiopian  courtier  when  deprived  of  Philip,  the  new 
believers  at  Antioch  found  that  the  withdrawal  of  the 
earthly  brought  the  heavenly  Guide.  'They  were 
filled  with  joy.'  What !  left  ignorant,  lonely,  ringed 
about  with  enemies,  how  could  they  be  glad  ?  Because 
they  were  filled  '  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Surely  joy  in 
such  circumstances  was  no  less  supernatural  a  token  of 
His  presence  than  rushing  wind  or  parting  flames  or 
lips  opened  to  speak  with  tongues.  God  makes  us 
lonely  that  He  may  Himself  be  our  Companion. 

It  was  a  long  journey  to  the  great  city  of  Iconium. 
According  to  some  geographers,  the  way  led  over 
savage  mountains;  but  the  two  brethren  tramped 
along,  with  an  unseen  Third  between  them,  and  that 
Presence  made  the  road  light.  They  had  little  to  cheer 
them  in  their  prospects,  if  they  looked  with  the  eye  of 
sense ;  but  they  were  in  good  heart,  and  the  remem- 
V  OL.  II.  D 


50  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiii. 

brance  of  Antioch  did  not  embitter  or  discourage 
them.  Straight  to  the  synagogue,  as  before,  they  went. 
It  was  their  best  introduction  to  the  new  field.  There, 
if  we  take  the  plain  words  of  Acts  xiv.  1,  they  found  a 
new  thing,  'Greeks,'  heathens  pure  and  simple,  not 
Hellenists  or  Greek-speaking  Jews,  nor  even  proselytes, 
in  the  synagogue.  This  has  seemed  so  singular  that 
efforts  have  been  made  to  impose  another  sense  on  the 
words,  or  to  suppose  that  the  notice  of  Greeks,  as  well 
as  Jews,  believing  is  loosely  appended  to  the  statement 
of  the  preaching  in  the  synagogue,  omitting  notice  of 
wider  evangelising.  But  it  is  better  to  accept  than 
to  correct  our  narrative,  as  we  know  nothing  of  the 
circumstances  that  may  have  led  to  this  presence  of 
Greeks  in  the  synagogue.  Some  modern  setters  of  the 
Bible  writers  right  would  be  all  the  better  for  remem- 
bering occasionally  that  improbable  things  have  a 
strange  knack  of  happening. 

The  usual  results  followed  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  The  Jews  were  again  the  mischief-makers, 
and,  with  the  astuteness  of  their  race,  pushed  the 
Gentiles  to  the  front,  and  this  time  tried  a  new  piece  of 
annoyance.  'The  brethren'  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
attack;  that  is,  the  converts,  not  Paul  and  Barnabas. 
It  was  a  cunning  move  to  drop  suspicions  into  the 
minds  of  influential  townsmen,  and  so  to  harass,  not 
the  two  strangers,  but  their  adherents.  The  calculation 
was  that  that  would  stop  the  progress  of  the  heresy  by 
making  its  adherents  uncomfortable,  and  would  also 
wound  the  teachers  through  their  disciples. 

But  one  small  element  had  been  left  out  of  the  cal- 
culation—  the  sort  of  men  these  teachers  were;  and 
another  factor  which  had  not  hitherto  appeared  came 
into  play,  and  upset   the  whole   scheme.     Paul  and 


vs. 44-52;  1-7]   REJECTERS:  RECEIVERS      51 

Barnabas  knew  when  to  retreat  and  when  to  stand 
their  ground.  This  time  they  stood ;  and  the  opposi- 
tion launched  at  their  friends  was  the  reason  why  they 
did  so.  '  Long  time  therefore  abode  they.'  If  their  own 
safety  had  been  in  question,  they  might  have  fled ;  but 
they  could  not  leave  the  men  whose  acceptance  of  their 
message  had  brought  them  into  straits.  But  behind  the 
two  bold  speakers  stood  '  the  Lord,'  Christ  Himself,  the 
true  Worker.  Men  who  live  in  Him  are  made  bold  by 
their  communion  with  Him,  and  He  witnesses  for  those 
who  witness  for  Him. 

Note  the  designation  of  the  Gospel  as  '  the  word  of 
His  grace.'  It  has  for  its  great  theme  the  condescend- 
ing, giving  love  of  Jesus.  Its  subject  is  grace ;  its  origin 
is  grace ;  its  gift  is  grace.  Observe,  too,  that  the  same 
connection  between  boldness  of  speech  and  signs  and 
wonders  is  found  in  Acts  iv.  29,  30.  Courageous  speech 
for  Christ  is  ever  attended  by  tokens  of  His  power, 
and  the  accompanying  tokens  of  His  power  make  the 
speech  more  courageous. 

The  normal  course  of  events  was  pursued.  Faithful 
preaching  provoked  hostility,  which  led  to  the  alliance 
of  discordant  elements,  fused  for  a  moment  by  a  com- 
mon hatred — alas!  that  enmity  to  God's  truth  should 
be  often  a  more  potent  bond  of  union  than  love! — 
and  then  to  a  wise  withdrawal  from  danger.  Sometimes 
it  is  needful  to  fling  away  life  for  Jesus ;  but  if  it  can 
be  preserved  without  shirking  duty,  it  is  better  to  flee 
than  to  die.  An  unnecessary  martyr  is  a  suicide.  The 
Christian  readiness  to  be  offered  has  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  fanatical  carelessness  of  life,  and  still  less 
with  the  morbid  longing  for  martyrdom  which  dis- 
figures some  of  the  most  pathetic  pages  of  the  Church's 
history.    Paul  living  to  preach  in  the  regions  beyond 


52  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

was  more  useful  than  Paul  dead  in  a  street  riot  in 
Iconium.  A  heroic  prudence  should  ever  accom- 
pany a  trustful  daring,  and  both  are  best  learned  in 
communion  with  Jesus. 


UNWORTHY  OF  LIFE 

* .  .  .  Seeing  ye  put  it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting 
life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles.'— Acts  xiii.  46. 

So  ended  the  first  attempt  on  Paul's  great  missionary- 
journey  to  preach  to  the  Jews.  It  is  described  at  great 
length  and  the  sermon  given  in  full  because  it  is  the 
first.  A  wonderful  sermon  it  was ;  touching  all  keys  of 
feeling,  now  pleading  almost  with  tears,  now  flashing 
with  indignation,  now  calmly  dealing  with  Scripture 
prophecies,  now  glowing  as  it  tells  the  story  of  Christ's 
death  for  men.  It  melted  some  of  the  hearers,  but  the 
most  were  wrought  up  to  furious  passion — and  with 
characteristic  vehemence,  like  their  ancestors  and  their 
descendants  through  long  dreary  generations,  fell  to 
'contradicting  and  blaspheming.'  We  can  see  the 
scene  in  the  synagogue,  the  eager  faces,  the  vehement 
gestures,  the  hubbub  of  tongues,  the  bitter  words  that 
stormed  round  the  two  in  the  midst,  Barnabas  like 
Jupiter,  grave,  majestic,  and  venerable;  Paul  like 
Mercury,  agile,  mobile,  swift  of  speech.  They  bore  the 
brunt  of  the  fury  till  they  saw  it  to  be  hopeless  to  try 
to  calm  it,  and  then  departed  with  these  remarkable 
words. 

They  are  even  more  striking  if  we  notice  that  '  judge ' 
here  may  be  used  in  its  full  legal  sense.  It  is  not  merely 
equivalent  to  consider,  for  these  Jews  by  no  means 


V.  46]  UNWORTHY  OF  LIFE  58 

thought  themselves  unworthy  of  eternal  life,  but  it 
means,  '  ye  adjudge  and  pass  sentence  on  yourselves  to 
be.'  Their  rejection  of  the  message  was  a  self-pro- 
nounced sentence.  It  proved  them  to  be,  and  made 
them,  'unworthy  of  eternal  life.'  There  are  two  or 
three  very  striking  thoughts  to  be  gathered  from  these 
words  which  I  would  dwell  on  now. 

I.  What  constitutes  worthiness  and  unworthiness. 

There  are  two  meanings  to  the  word  'worthy* 
— deserving  or  fit.  They  run  into  each  other  and  yet 
they  may  be  kept  quite  apart.  For  instance  you  may 
say  of  a  man  that  '  he  is  worthy '  to  be  something  or 
other,  for  which  he  is  obviously  qualified,  not  thinking 
at  all  whether  he  deserves  it  or  not. 

Now  in  the  first  of  these  senses — we  are  all  unworthy 
of  eternal  life.  That  is  just  to  state  in  other  words  the 
tragic  truth  of  universal  sinfulness.  The  natural  out- 
come and  issue  of  the  course  which  all  men  follow  is 
death.  But  yet  there  are  men  who  are  fit  for  and  cap- 
able of  eternal  life.  "Who  they  are  and  what  fitness 
is  can  only  be  ascertained  when  we  rightly  understand 
what  eternal  life  is.  It  is  not  merely  future  blessedness 
or  a  synonym  for  a  vulgar  heaven.  That  is  the  common 
notion  of  its  meaning.  Men  think  of  that  future  as  a 
blessed  state  to  which  God  can  admit  anybody  if  He 
will,  and,  as  He  is  good,  will  admit  pretty  nearly  every- 
body. But  eternal  life  is  a  present  possession  as  well 
as  a  future  one,  and  passing  by  its  deeper  aspects, 
it  includes — 

Deliverance  from  evil  habits  and  desires. 

Purity,  and  love  of  all  good  and  fair  things. 

Communion  with  God. 

As  well  as  forgiveness  and  removal  of  punish- 
ment. 


54  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [cn.xra. 

What  then  are  the  qualifications  making  a  man 
worthy  of,  in  the  sense  of  fit  for,  such  a  state  ? 

(a)  To  know  oneself  to  be  unworthy. 

He  who  judges  himself  to  be  worthy  is  unworthy. 
He  who  knows  himself  to  be  unworthy  is  worthy. 

The  first  requisite  is  consciousness  of  sin,  leading  to 
repentance. 

(6)  To  abandon  striving  to  make  oneself  worthy. 

By  ourselves  we  never  can  do  so.  Many  of  us  think 
that  we  must  do  our  best,  and  then  God  will  do  the 
rest. 

There  must  be  the  entire  cessation  of  all  attempt  to 
work  out  by  our  own  efforts  characters  that  would 
entitle  us  to  eternal  life. 

(c)  To  be  willing  to  accept  life  on  God's  terms. 
As  a  mere  gift. 

(d)  To  desire  it. 

God  cannot  give  it  to  any  one  who  does  not  want  it. 
He  cannot  force  His  gifts  on  us. 

This  then  is  the  worthiness. 

II.  How  we  pass  sentence  on  ourselves  as  unworthy. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  '  judge '  here  does  not  mean  con- 
sider, for  a  sense  of  unworthiness  is  not  the  reason  which 
keeps  men  away  from  the  Gospel.  Rather,  as  we  have 
seen,  a  proud  belief  in  our  worthiness  keeps  very  many 
away.  But  'judge'  here  means  'adjudicate'  or  'pro- 
nounce sentence  on,'  and  worthy  means  fit,  qualified. 

Consider  then — 

(a)  That  our  attitude  to  the  Gospel  is  a  revelation  of 
our  deepest  selves. 

The  Gospel  is  a  *  discerner  of  thoughts  and  intents  of 
the  heart.'  It  judges  us  her«  and  now,  and  by  their 
attitude  to  it  'the  thoughts  of  many  hearts  shaU  b§ 
revealed.' 


V.46]  UNWORTHY  OF  LIFE  55 

(b)  That  our  rejection  of  it  plainly  shows  that  we  have 
not  the  qualifications  for  eternal  life. 

No  doubt  some  men  are  kept  from  accepting  Christ 
by  intellectual  doubts  and  difficulties,  but  even  these 
would  alter  their  whole  attitude  to  Him  if  they  had  a 
profound  consciousness  of  sin,  and  a  desire  for  deliver- 
ance from  it. 

But  with  regard  to  the  great  bulk  of  its  hearers,  no 
doubt  the  hindrance  is  chiefly  moral.  Many  causes  may 
combine  to  produce  the  absence  of  qualification.  The 
excuses  in  the  parable — farm,  oxen,  wife — all  amount 
to  engrossment  with  this  present  world,  and  such 
absorption  in  the  things  seen  and  temporal  deadens 
desire.  So  the  Gospel  preached  excites  no  longings,  and 
a  man  hears  the  offer  of  salvation  without  one  motion 
of  his  heart  towards  it,  and  thus  proclaims  himself 
'  unworthy  of  eternal  life.' 

But  the  great  disqualification  is  the  absence  of  all 
consciousness  of  sin.  This  is  the  very  deepest  reason 
which  keeps  men  away  from  Christ. 

How  solemn  a  thing  the  preaching  and  hearing  of 
this  word  is ! 

How  possible  for  you  to  make  yourselves  fit ! 

How  simple  the  qualification !  We  have  but  to  know 
ourselves  sinners  and  to  trust  Jesus  and  then  we  *  shall 
be  counted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the  resur- 
rection from  the  dead.'  Then  we  shall  be  'worthy  to 
escape  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  Man.'  Then 
shall  we  be  'worthy  of  this  calling,'  and  the  Judge 
himself  shall  say :  '  They  shall  walk  with  Me  in  white, 
for  they  are  worthy.' 


'FULL  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST* 

'  And  the  disciples  were  filled  with  joy,  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'— Acts  :  UL  S2, 

That  joy  was  as  strange  as  a  garden  full  of  flo^  era 
would  be  in  bitter  winter  weather.  For  everyth.  \g 
in  the  circumstances  of  these  disciples  tended  to  naak  i 
them  sad.  They  had  been  but  just  won  from  heathen- 
ism, and  they  were  raw,  ignorant,  unfit  to  stand 
alone.  Paul  and  Barnabas,  their  only  guides,  had 
been  hunted  out  of  Antioch  by  a  mob,  and  it  would 
have  been  no  wonder  if  these  disciples  had  felt  as  if 
they  had  been  taken  on  to  the  ice  and  then  left,  when 
they  most  needed  a  hand  to  steady  them.  Luke  em- 
phasises the  contrast  between  what  might  have  been 
expected,  and  what  was  actually  the  case,  by  that 
eloquent  'and'  at  the  beginning  of  our  verse,  which 
links  together  the  departure  of  the  Apostles  and  the 
joy  of  the  disciples.  But  the  next  words  explain  the 
paradox.  These  new  converts,  left  in  a  great  heathen 
city,  with  no  helpers,  no  guides,  to  work  out  as  best 
they  might  a  faith  of  which  they  had  but  newly 
received  the  barest  rudiments,  were  'full  of  joy' 
because  they  were  *  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost.' 

Now  that  latter  phrase,  so  striking  here,  is  charac- 
teristic of  this  book  of  the  Acts,  and  especially  of  its 
earlier  chapters,  which  are  all,  as  it  were,  throbbing 
with  wonder  at  the  new  gift  which  Pentecost  had 
brought.  Let  me  for  a  moment,  in  the  briefest  possible 
fashion,  try  to  recall  to  you  the  instances  of  its 
occurrence,  for  they  are  very  significant  and  very 
important. 

You  remember  how  at  Pentecost  'all'  the  disciples 

6(i 


V.52]    *FULL  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST'      57 

were  'filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Then  when  the 
first  persecution  broke  over  the  Church,  Peter  before 
the  Council  is  '  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,'  and  therefore 
he  beards  them,  and  '  speaks  with  all  boldness.'  When 
he  goes  back  to  the  Church  and  tells  them  of  the 
threatening  cloud  that  was  hanging  over  them,  they 
too  are  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  therefore 
rise  buoyantly  upon  the  tossing  wave,  as  a  ship  might 
do  when  it  passes  the  bar  and  meets  the  heaving 
sea.  Then  again  the  Apostles  lay  down  the  qualifica- 
tions for  election  to  the  so-called  office  of  deacon  as 
being  that  the  men  should  be  '  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  wisdom';  and  in  accordance  therewith,  we  read 
of  the  first  of  the  seven,  Stephen,  that  he  was  'full 
of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  therefore  'full 
of  grace  and  power.'  When  he  stood  before  the 
Council  he  was  '  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  therefore 
looked  up  into  heaven  and  saw  it  opened,  and  the 
Christ  standing  ready  to  help  him.  In  like  manner  we 
read  of  Barnabas  that  he  'was  a  good  man,  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith.*  And  finally  we  read 
in  our  text  that  these  new  converts,  left  alone  in 
Antioch  of  Pisidia,  were  *  full  of  joy  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.' 

Now  these  are  the  principal  instances,  and  my  pur- 
pose now  is  rather  to  deal  with  the  whole  of  these 
instances  of  the  occurrence  of  this  remarkable  expres- 
sion than  with  the  one  which  I  have  selected  as  a 
text,  because  I  think  that  they  teach  us  great  truths 
bearing  very  closely  on  the  strength  and  joyfulness 
of  the  Christian  life  which  are  far  too  much  neglected, 
obsbured,  and  forgotten  by  us  to-day. 

I  wish  then  to  point  you,  first,  to  the  solemn  thought 
that  is  here,  as  to  what  should  be — 


58  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

I.  The  experience  of  every  Christian. 

Note  the  two  things,  the  universality  and  the  abund- 
ance of  this  divine  gift.  I  have  often  had  occasion  to 
say  to  you,  and  so  I  merely  repeat  it  again  in  the 
briefest  fashion,  that  we  do  not  grasp  the  central  blessed- 
ness of  the  Christian  faith  unless,  beyond  forgiveness 
and  acceptance,  beyond  the  mere  putting  away  of  the 
dread  of  punishment  either  here  or  hereafter,  we  see 
that  the  gift  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  communica- 
tion to  every  believing  soul  of  that  divine  life  which 
is  bestowed  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  granted  to  every 
believing  heart.  But  I  would  have  you  notice  how 
the  universality  of  the  gift  is  unmistakably  taught 
us  by  the  instances  which  I  have  briefly  gathered  to- 
gether in  my  previous  remarks.  It  was  no  official  class 
on  which,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  tongues  of 
fire  fluttered  down.  It  was  to  the  whole  Church  that 
courage  to  front  the  persecutor  was  imparted.  When 
in  Samaria  the  preaching  of  Philip  brought  about  the 
result  of  the  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  was 
to  all  the  believers  that  it  was  granted,  and  when,  in 
the  Roman  barracks  at  Csesarea,  Cornelius  and  his 
companion  listened  to  Peter,  it  was  upon  them  all  that 
that  Divine  Spirit  descended. 

I  suppose  I  need  not  remind  you  of  how,  if  we  pass 
beyond  this  book  of  the  Acts  into  the  Epistles  of  Paul, 
his  affirmations  do  most  emphatically  insist  upon  the 
fact  that  'we  are  all  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit'; 
and  so  convinced  is  he  of  the  universality  of  the 
possession  of  that  divine  life  by  every  Christian,  that 
he  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  'if  any  man  have 
not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  His,'  and  to  clear 
away  all  possibility  of  misunderstanding  the  depth  and 
wonderfulness  of  the  gift,  he  further  adds  in  another 


V.52]    'FULL  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST'      59 

place, '  Know  ye  not  that  the  Spirit  is  in  you,  except 
ye  be  reprobates?'  Similarly  another  of  the  New 
Testament  writers  declares,  in  the  broadest  terms,  that 
'this  spake  he  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which' — Apostles? 
no ;  office-bearers  ?  no ;  ordained  men  ?  no ;  distin- 
guished and  leading  men  ?  No — *  they  that  believe  on 
Him  should  receive.'  Christianity  is  the  true  demo- 
cracy, because  it  declares  that  upon  all,  handmaidens 
and  servants,  young  men  and  old  men,  there  comes 
the  divine  gift.  The  world  thinks  of  a  divine  inspira- 
tion in  a  more  or  less  superficial  fashion,  as  touching 
only  the  lofty  summits,  the  great  thinkers  and  teachers 
and  artists  and  mighty  men  of  light  and  leading  of  the 
race.  The  Old  Testament  regarded  prophets  and  kings, 
and  those  who  were  designated  to  important  offices,  as 
the  possessors  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  But  Christianity 
has  seen  the  sun  rising  so  high  in  the  heavens  that  the 
humblest  floweret,  in  the  deepest  valley,  basks  in  its 
beams  and  opens  to  its  light.  'We  have  all  been  made 
to  drink  into  the  one  Spirit.' 

Let  me  remind  you  too  of  how,  from  the  usage  of 
this  book,  as  well  as  from  the  rest  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaching,  there  rises  the  other  thought  of  the 
abundance  of  the  gift.  'Full  of  the  Holy  Spirit' — the 
cup  is  brimming  with  generous  wine.  Not  that  that 
fulness  is  such  as  to  make  inconsistencies  impossible, 
as,  alas,  the  best  of  us  know.  The  highest  condition 
for  us  is  laid  do^s  n  in  the  sad  words  which  yet  have 
triumph  in  their  sadness — 'The  flesh  lusteth  against 
the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh.'  But 
whilst  the  fulness  is  not  such  as  to  exclude  the  need 
of  conflict,  it  is  such  as  to  bring  the  certainty  of 
victory. 

Again  if  we  turn  to  the  instances  to  which  I  have 


60  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xiii. 

already  referred,  we  shall  find  that  they  fall  into  two 
classes,  which  are  distinguished  in  the  original  by  a 
slight  variation  in  the  form  of  the  words  employed. 
Some  instances  refer  to  a  habitual  possession  of  an 
abundant  spiritual  life  moulding  the  character  con- 
stantly, as  in  the  cases  of  Stephen  and  Barnabas. 
Others  refer  rather  to  occasional  and  special  influxes 
of  special  power  on  account  of  special  circumstances, 
and  drawn  forth  by  special  exigencies,  as  when  there 
poured  into  Peter's  heart  the  Divine  Spirit  that  made 
him  bold  before  the  Council;  or  as  when  the  dying 
martyr's  spirit  was  flooded  with  a  new  clearness  of 
vision  that  pierced  the  heavens  and  beheld  the  Christ. 
So  then  there  may  be  and  ought  to  be,  in  each  of  us, 
a  fulness  of  the  Spirit,  up  to  the  edge  of  our  capacity, 
and  yet  of  such  a  kind  as  that  it  may  be  reinforced  and 
increased  when  special  needs  arise. 

Not  only  so,  but  that  which  fills  me  to-day  should 
not  fill  me  to-morrow,  because,  as  in  earthly  love,  so 
in  heavenly,  no  man  can  tell  to  what  this  thing  shall 
grow.  The  more  of  fruition  the  more  there  will  be 
of  expansion,  and  the  more  of  expansion  the  miore  of 
desire,  and  the  more  of  desire  the  more  of  capacity, 
and  the  more  of  capacity  the  more  of  possession.  So, 
brethren,  the  man  who  receives  a  spark  of  the  divine 
life,  through  his  most  rudimentary  and  tremulous 
faith,  if  he  is  a  faithful  steward  of  the  gift  that  is 
given  to  him,  will  find  that  it  grows  and  grows,  and 
that  there  is  no  limit  to  its  growth,  and  that  in  its 
limitless  growth  there  lies  the  surest  prophecy  of  an 
eternal  growth  in  the  heavens. 

A  universal  gift,  that  is  to  say,  a  gift  to  each  of  us 
if  we  are  Christians,  an  abundant  gift  that  fills  the 
whole  nature  of  a  man,  according  to  the  measure  of 


V.52]    *FULL  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST'      61 

his  present  power  to  receive — that  is  the  ideal,  that 
is  what  God  means,  that  is  what  these  first  believers 
had.  It  did  not  make  them  perfect,  it  did  not  save 
them  from  faults  or  from  errors,  but  it  was  real,  it  was 
influential,  it  was  moulding  their  characters,  it  was 
progressive.  And  that  is  the  ideal  for  all  Christians. 
Is  it  our  actual  ?  We  are  meant  to  be  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Ah !  how  many  of  us  have  never  realised  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  being  thus  possessed  with  a 
divine  life,  partly  because  we  do  not  understand  that 
such  a  fulness  will  not  be  distinguishable  from  our  own 
self,  except  by  bettering  of  the  works  of  self,  and  partly 
because  of  other  reasons  which  I  shall  have  to  touch 
upon  presently!  Brethren,  we  may,  every  one  of  us, 
be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Let  each  of  us  ask,  '  Am  I  ? 
and  if  I  am  not,  why  this  emptiness  in  the  presence  of 
such  abundance  ? ' 

And  now  let  me  ask  you  to  look,  in  the  second 
place,  at  what  we  gather  from  these  instances  as  to — 

II.  The  results  of  that  universal,  abundant  life. 

Do  not  let  us  run  away  with  the  idea  that  the 
New  Testament,  or  any  part  of  it,  regards  miracles 
and  tongues  and  the  like  as  being  the  normal  and 
chiefest  gifts  of  that  Divine  Spirit.  People  read 
this  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and,  averse 
from  the  supernatural,  exaggerate  the  extent  to 
which  the  primitive  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
manifested  by  signs  and  wonders,  tongues  of  fire, 
and  so  on.  We  have  only  to  look  at  the  instances 
to  which  I  have  already  referred  to  see  that  far 
more  lofty  and  far  more  conspicuous  than  any  such 
external  and  transient  manifestations,  which  yet  have 
their  place,  are  the  permanent  and  inward  results, 
moulding   character,  and   making  men.      And  Paul's 


62  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiii. 

First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  goes  as  far  in  the 
way  of  setting  the  moral  and  spiritual  effects  of  the 
divine  influence  above  the  merely  miraculous  and  ex- 
ternal ones,  as  the  most  advanced  opponent  of  the 
supernatural  could  desire. 

Let  us  look,  and  it  can  only  be  briefly,  at  the  various 
results  which  are  presented  in  the  instances  to  which 
I  have  referred.  Tho  most  general  expression  for  all, 
which  is  the  result  of  the  Divine  Spirit  dwelling  in  a  man, 
is  that  it  makes  him  good.  Look  at  one  of  the  instances 
to  which  we  have  referred.  '  Barnabas  was  a  good  man ' 
— was  he?  How  came  he  to  be  so?  Because  he  was 
'  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  And  how  came  he  to  be  '  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost '  ?  Because  he  was  '  full  of  faith.' 
Get  the  divine  life  into  you,  and  that  will  make  you 
good  ;  and,  brethren,  nothing  else  will.  It  is  like  the 
bottom  heat  in  a  green-house,  which  makes  all  the 
plants  that  are  there,  whatever  their  orders,  grow  and 
blossom  and  be  healthy  and  strong.  Therein  is  the 
difference  between  Christian  morality  and  the  world's 
ethics.  They  may  not  differ  much,  they  do  in  some 
respects,  in  their  ideal  of  what  constitutes  goodness, 
but  they  differ  in  this,  that  the  one  says,  *  Be  good,  be 
good,  be  good!'  but,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  puts  out  not 
a  finger  to  help  a  man  to  bear  the  burdens  that  it  lays 
upon  him.  The  other  says,  '  Be  good,'  but  it  also  says, 
'  take  this  and  it  will  make  you  good.'  And  so  the  one 
is  Gospel  and  the  other  is  talk,  the  one  is  a  word  of 
good  tidings,  and  the  other  is  a  beautiful  speculation, 
or  a  crushing  commandment  that  brings  death  rather 
than  life.  '  If  there  had  been  a  law  given  which  could 
have  given  life,  verily  righteousness  had  been  by  the 
law.'  But  since  the  clearest  laying  down  of  duty  brings 
us  no  nearer  to  the  performance  of  duty,  we  need  and, 


V.52]     'FULL  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST'      63 

thank  God  !  we  have,  a  gift  bestowed  which  invests  wdth 
power.  He  in  whom  the  'Spirit  of  Holiness'  dwells, 
and  he  alone,  will  be  holy.  The  result  of  the  life  of 
God  in  the  heart  is  a  life  growingly  like  God's,  mani- 
fested in  the  world. 

Then  again  let  me  remind  you  of  how,  from  another 
of  our  instances,  there  comes  another  thought.  The 
result  of  this  majestic,  supernatural,  universal,  abun- 
dant, divine  life  is  practical  sagacity  in  the  commonest 
affairs  of  life.  'Look  ye  out  from  among  you  seven 
men,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  wisdom.'  What 
to  do?  To  meet  wisely  the  claims  of  suspicious  and 
jealous  poverty,  and  to  distribute  fairly  a  little  money. 
That  was  all.  And  are  you  going  to  invoke  such  a 
lofty  gift  as  this,  to  do  nothing  grander  than  that? 
Yes.  Gravitation  holds  planets  in  their  orbits,  and 
keeps  grains  of  dust  in  their  places.  And  one  result 
of  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  which  is  granted 
to  Christian  people,  is  that  they  will  be  wise  for 
the  little  affairs  of  life.  But  Stephen  was  also  'full 
of  grace  and  power,'  two  things  that  do  not  often  go 
together — grace,  gentleness,  loveliness,  graciousness,  on 
the  one  side,  and  strength  on  the  other,  which  divorced, 
make  wild  work  of  character,  and  which  united,  make 
men  like  God.  So  if  we  desire  our  lives  to  be  full  of 
sweetness  and  light  and  beauty,  the  best  way  is  to  get 
the  life  of  Christ  into  them ;  and  if  we  desire  our  lives 
not  to  be  made  placid  and  effeminate  by  our  cult  of 
graciousness  and  gracefulness,  but  to  have  their  beauty 
stiffened  and  strengthened  by  manly  energy,  then  the 
best  way  is  to  get  the  life  of  the  '  strong  Son  of  God, 
immortal  love,'  into  our  lives. 

The  same  Stephen,  'full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  looked 
up  into  heaven  and  saw  the  Christ.    So  one  result  of 


64  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [cH.xm. 

that  abundant  life,  if  we  have  it,  will  be  that  even 
though  as  with  him,  when  he  saw  the  heavens  opened, 
there  may  be  some  smoke-darkened  roof  above  our 
heads,  we  can  look  through  all  the  shows  of  this  vain 
world,  and  our  purged  eyes  can  behold  the  Christ. 
Again  the  disciples  in  our  text  'were  full  of  joy,' 
because  '  they  were  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,'  and  we,  if 
we  have  that  abundant  life  within  us,  shall  not  be 
dependent  for  our  gladness  on  the  outer  world,  but 
like  explorers  in  the  Arctic  regions,  even  if  we  have 
to  build  a  hut  of  snow,  shall  be  warm  within  it  when 
the  thermometer  is  far  below  zero ;  and  there  will  be 
light  there  when  the  long  midnight  is  spread  around 
the  dwelling.  So,  dear  friends,  let  us  understand  what 
is  the  main  thing  for  a  Christian  to  endeavour  after, 
— not  so  much  the  cultivation  of  special  graces  as  the 
deepening  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  the  spirit. 
We  gather  from  some  of  these  instances — 
III.  The  way  by  which  we  may  be  thus  filled. 
We  read  that  Stephen  was  '  full  of  faith  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,'  and  that  Barnabas  was  *  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  of  faith,'  and  it  is  quite  clear  from  the  re- 
spective contexts  that,  though  the  order  in  which  these 
fulnesses  are  placed  is  different  in  the  two  clauses,  their 
relation  to  each  other  is  the  same.  Faith  is  the  con- 
dition of  possessing  the  Spirit.  And  what  do  we  mean 
in  this  connection  by  faith  ?  I  mean,  first,  a  belief  in 
the  truth  of  the  possible  abiding  of  the  divine  Spirit 
in  our  spirits,  a  truth  which  the  superficial  Christianity 
of  this  generation  sorely  needs  to  have  forced  upon 
its  consciousness  far  more  than  it  has  it.  I  mean 
aspiration  and  desire  after ;  I  mean  confident  expecta- 
tion of.  Your  wish  measures  your  possession.  You 
have  as  much  of  God  as  you  desire.    If  you  have  no 


V.52]  DEIFIED  AND  STONED  65 

more,  it  is  because  you  do  not  desire  any  more.  The 
Christian  people  of  to-day,  many  of  whom  are  so 
empty  of  God,  are  in  a  very  tragic  sense,  '  full,'  because 
they  have  as  much  as  they  can  take  in.  If  you  bring 
a  tiny  cup,  and  do  not  much  care  whether  anything 
pours  into  it  or  not,  you  will  get  it  filled,  but  you 
might  have  had  a  gallon  vessel  filled  if  you  had  chosen 
to  bring  it.  Of  course  there  are  other  conditions  too. 
We  have  to  use  the  life  that  in  given  us.  We  have  to 
see  that  we  do  not  quench  it  by  sin,  which  drives  the 
dove  of  God  from  a  man's  heart.  But  the  great  truth 
is  that  if  I  open  the  door  of  ray  heart  by  faith,  Christ 
will  come  in,  in  His  Spirit.  If  I  take  away  the  blinds 
the  light  will  shine  into  the  chamber.  If  I  lift  the 
sluice  the  water  will  pour  in  to  drive  my  mill.  If  I 
deepen  the  channels,  more  of  the  water  of  life  can 
flow  into  them,  and  the  deeper  I  make  them  the  fuller 
they  will  be. 

Brethren,  we  have  wasted  much  time  and  effort  in 
trying  to  mend  our  characters.  Let  us  try  to  get  that 
into  them  which  will  mend  them.  And  let  us  remember 
that,  if  we  are  full  of  faith,  we  shall  be  full  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  therefore  full  of  wisdom,  full  of  grace  and 
power,  full  of  goodness,  full  of  joy,  whatever  our 
circumstances.  And  when  death  comes,  though  it  may 
be  in  some  cruel  form,  we  shall  be  able  to  look  up  and 
see  the  opened  heavens  and  the  welcoming  Christ. 


DEIFIED  AND  STONED 

'  And  when  the  people  saw  what  Paul  had  done,  they  lifted  up  their  voices, 
saying  in  the  speech  of  Lycaonia,  The  gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of 
men.  12.  And  they  called  Barnabas,  Jupiter ;  and  Paul,  Mercurius,  because  he 
was  the  chief  speaker.  13.  Then  the  priest  of  Jupiter,  which  was  before  their 
city,  brought  oxen  and  garlands  unto  the  gates,  and  would  have  done  sacrifice 
with  the  people.     14.  Which  when  the  apostles,  Barnabas  and  Paul,  heard  of, 

VOL.  II.  E 


66  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xiv. 

they  rent  their  clothes,  and  ran  in  among  the  people,  crying  out,  15.  And  saying. 
Sirs,  why  do  ye  these  things?  We  also  are  men  of  like  passions  with  you,  and 
preach  unto  you  that  ye  should  turn  from  these  vanities  unto  the  living  God.  which 
made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are  therein :  16.  Who  in 
times  past  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways.  17.  Nevertheless  he 
left  not  himself  without  witness,  in  that  he  did  good,  and  gave  us  rain  from 
heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness.  18.  And 
with  these  sayings  scarce  restrained  they  the  people,  that  they  had  not  done 
sacrifice  unto  them.  19.  And  there  came  thither  certain  Jews  from  Antioch  and 
Iconium,  who  persuaded  the  people,  and,  having  stoned  Paul,  drew  him  out  of 
the  city,  supposing  he  had  been  dead.  20.  Howbeit,  as  the  disciples  stood  round 
about  him,  he  rose  up,  and  came  into  the  city:  and  the  next  day  he  departed 
with  Barnabas  to  Derbe.  21.  And  when  they  had  preached  the  gospel  to  that 
city,  and  had  taught  many,  they  returned  again  to  Lystra,  and  to  Iconium,  and 
Antioch,  22.  Confirming  the  souls  of  the  disciples,  and  exhorting  them  to  con- 
tinue in  the  faith,  and  that  we  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.'— Acts  xiv.  11-22. 

The  scene  at  Lystra  offers  a  striking  instance  of  the 
impossibility  of  eliminating  the  miraculous  element 
from  this  book.  The  cure  of  a  lame  man  is  the  start- 
ing-point of  the  whole  story.  Without  it  the  rest  is 
motiveless  and  inexplicable.  There  can  be  no  explosion 
without  a  train  and  a  fuse.  The  miracle,  and  the 
miracle  only,  supplies  these.  We  may  choose  between 
believing  and  disbelieving  it,  but  the  rejection  of  the 
supernatural  does  not  make  this  book  easier  to  accept, 
but  utterly  chaotic. 

I.  We  have,  first,  the  burst  of  excited  wonder  which 
floods  the  crowd  with  the  conviction  that  the  two 
Apostles  are  incarnations  of  deities.  It  is  difficult  to 
grasp  the  indications  of  locality  in  the  story,  but 
probably  the  miracle  was  wrought  in  some  crowded 
place,  perhaps  the  forum.  At  all  events,  it  was  in  full 
view  of  '  the  multitudes,'  and  they  were  mostly  of  the 
lower  orders,  as  their  speaking  in  '  the  speech  of 
Lycaonia '  suggests. 

This  half-barbarous  crowd  had  the  ancient  faith  in 
the  gods  unweakened,  and  the  legends,  which  had 
become  dim  to  pure  Greek  and  Roman,  some  of  which 
had  originated  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood,  still 
found    full    credence    among    them.      A    Jew's    first 


vs.  11-22]      DEIFIED  AND  STONED  67 

thought  on  seeing  a  miracle  was,  'by  the  prince  of 
the  devils ' ;  an  average  Greek's  or  Roman's  was  '  sor- 
cery ' ;  these  simple  people's,  like  many  barbarous  tribes 
to  which  white  men  have  gone  with  the  marvels  of 
modern  science,  was  '  the  gods  have  come  down ' ;  our 
modern  superior  person's,  on  reading  of  one,  is  '  hallu- 
cination,' or  *a  mistake  of  an  excited  imagination.' 
Perhaps  the  cry  of  the  multitudes  at  Lystra  gets 
nearer  the  heart  of  the  thing  than  those  others.  For 
the  miracle  is  a  witness  of  present  divine  power,  and 
though  the  worker  of  it  is  not  an  incarnation  of 
divinity,  '  God  is  with  him.' 

But  that  joyful  conviction,  which  shot  through  the 
crowd,  reveals  how  deep  lies  the  longing  for  the  mani- 
festation of  divinity  in  the  form  of  humanity,  and  how 
natural  it  is  to  believe  that,  if  there  is  a  divine  being, 
he  is  sure  to  draw  near  to  us  poor  men,  and  that  in 
our  own  likeness.  Then  is  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
the  Incarnation  but  one  more  of  the  many  reachings 
out  of  the  heart  to  paint  a  fair  picture  of  the  fulfilment 
of  its  longings?  Well,  since  it  is  the  only  such  that 
is  alleged  to  have  taken  place  in  historic  times,  and 
the  only  one  that  comes  with  any  body  of  historic 
evidence,  and  the  only  one  that  brings  with  it  trans- 
forming power,  and  since  to  believe  in  a  God,  and  also 
to  believe  that  He  has  never  broken  the  awful  silence, 
nor  done  anything  to  fulfil  a  craving  which  He  has  set 
in  men's  hearts,  is  absurd,  it  is  reasonable  to  answer. 
No.  '  The  gods  are  come  down  in  the  likeness  of  men ' 
is  a  wistful  confession  of  need,  and  a  dim  hope  of  its 
supply.  'The  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us '  is  the  supply. 

Barnabas  was  the  older  man,  and  his  very  silence 
suggested  his  superior  dignity.     So  he  was  taken  for 


68  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiv. 

Jupiter  (Zeus  in  the  Greek),  and  the  younger  man  for 
his  inferior,  Mercury  (Hermes  in  the  Greek),  *the 
messenger  of  the  gods.'  Clearly  the  two  missionaries 
did  not  understand  what  the  multitudes  were  shouting 
in  their  '  barbarous '  language,  or  they  would  have 
intervened.  Perhaps  they  had  left  the  spot  before  the 
excitement  rose  to  its  height,  for  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  preparations  for  the  sacrifice  till  they  '  heard  of ' 
it,  and  then  they  *  sprang  forth,'  which  implies  that 
they  were  within  some  place,  possibly  their  lodging. 

If  we  could  be  sure  what '  gates '  are  meant  in  verse 
13,  the  course  of  events  would  be  plainer.  "Were  they 
those  of  the  city,  in  which  case  the  priest  and  procession 
would  be  coming  from  the  temple  outside  the  walls  ? 
or  those  of  the  temple  itself  ?  or  those  of  the  Apostles' 
lodging  ?  Opinions  differ,  and  the  material  for  decid- 
ing is  lacking.  At  all  events,  whether  from  sharing 
in  the  crowd's  enthusiasm,  or  with  an  eye  to  the 
reputation  of  his  shrine,  the  priest  hurriedly  procured 
oxen  for  a  sacrifice,  which  one  reading  of  the  text 
specifies  as  an  '  additional '  offering — that  is,  over  and 
above  the  statutory  sacrifices.  Is  it  a  sign  of  haste 
that  the  '  garlands,'  which  should  have  been  twined 
round  the  oxen's  horns,  are  mentioned  separately  ?  If 
so,  we  get  a  lively  picture  of  the  exultant  hurry  of  the 
crowd. 

II.  The  Apostles  are  as  deeply  moved  as  the  multi- 
tude is,  but  by  what  different  emotions !  The  horror 
of  idolatry,  which  was  their  inheritance  from  a 
hundred  generations,  flamed  up  at  the  thought  of 
themselves  being  made  objects  of  worship.  They  had 
met  many  different  sorts  of  receptions  on  this  journey, 
but  never  before  anything  like  this.  Opposition  and 
threats  left  them  calm,  but  this  stirred  them  to  the 


vs.  11-22]      DEIFIED  AND  STONED  69 

depths.  'Scoff  at  us,  fight  with  us,  maltreat  us,  and 
we  will  endure ;  but  do  not  make  gods  of  us.'  I  do 
not  know  that  their  '  successors '  have  always  felt 
exactly  so. 

In  verse  14  Barnabas  is  named  first,  contrary  to  the 
order  prevailing  since  Paphos,  the  reason  being  that 
the  crowd  thought  him  the  superior.  The  remon- 
strance ascribed  to  both,  but  no  doubt  spoken  by  Paul, 
contains  nothing  that  any  earnest  monotheist,  Jew  or 
Gentile  philosopher,  might  not  have  said.  The  purpose 
of  it  was  not  to  preach  Christ,  but  to  stop  the  sacrifice. 
It  is  simply  a  vehemently  earnest  protest  against 
idolatry,  and  a  proclamation  of  one  living  God.  The 
comparison  with  the  speech  in  Athens  is  interesting, 
as  showing  Paul's  exquisite  felicity  in  adapting  his 
style  to  his  audience.  There  is  nothing  to  the  peasants 
of  Lycaonia  about  poets,  no  argumentation  about  the 
degradation  of  the  idea  of  divinity  by  taking  images 
as  its  likeness,  no  wide  view  of  the  course  of  history, 
no  glimpse  of  the  mystic  thought  that  all  creatures 
live  and  move  in  Him.  All  that  might  suit  the  delicate 
ears  of  Athenians,  but  would  have  been  wasted  in 
Lystra  amidst  the  tumultuous  crowd.  But  we  have 
instead  of  these  the  fearless  assertion,  flung  in  the  face 
of  the  priest  of  Jupiter,  that  idols  are  *  vanities,'  as 
Paul  had  learned  from  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah ;  the  plain 
declaration  of  the  one  God,  '  living,'  and  not  like  these 
inanimate  images;  of  His  universal  creative  power; 
and  the  earnest  exhortation  to  turn  to  Him. 

In  verse  16  Paul  meets  an  objection  which  rises  in 
his  mind  as  likely  to  be  springing  in  his  hearers' :  '  If 
there  is  such  a  God,  why  have  we  never  heard  of  Him 
till  now?'  That  is  quite  in  Paul's  manner.  The 
answer  is  undeveloped,  as  compared  with  the  Athenian 


70  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xiv. 

address  or  with  Romans  i.  But  there  is  couched  in 
verse  16  a  tacit  contrast  between  '  the  generations  gone 
by '  and  the  present,  which  is  drawn  out  in  the  speech 
on  Mars  Hill :  '  but  now  commandeth  all  men  every- 
where to  repent,'  and  also  a  contrast  between  the 
*  nations '  left  to  walk  in  their  own  ways,  and  Israel 
to  whom  revelation  had  been  made.  The  place  and 
the  temper  of  the  listeners  did  not  admit  of  enlarging 
on  such  matters. 

But  there  was  a  plain  fact,  which  was  level  to  every 
peasant's  apprehension,  and  might  strike  home  to  the 
rustic  crowd.  God  had  left  '  the  nations  to  walk  in 
their  own  ways,'  and  yet  not  altogether.  That  thought 
is  wrought  out  in  Romans  i.,  and  the  difference  between 
its  development  there  and  here  is  instructive.  Benefi- 
cence is  the  sign-manual  of  heaven.  The  orderly 
sequence  of  the  seasons,  the  rain  from  heaven,  the 
seat  of  the  gods  from  which  the  two  Apostles  were 
thought  to  have  come  down,  the  yearly  miracle  of 
harvest,  and  the  gladness  that  it  brings — all  these  are 
witnesses  to  a  living  Person  moving  the  processes  of 
the  universe  towards  a  beneficent  end  for  man. 

In  spite  of  all  modern  impugners,  it  still  remains  true 
that  the  phenomena  of  '  nature,'  their  continuity,  their 
co-operation,  and  their  beneficent  issues,  demand  the 
recognition  of  a  Person  with  a  loving  purpose  moving 
them  all.  '  Thou  crownest  the  year  with  Thy  goodness ; 
and  Thy  paths  drop  fatness.' 

III.  The  malice  of  the  Jews  of  Antioch  is  remarkable. 
Not  content  with  hounding  the  Apostles  from  that 
city,  they  came  raging  after  them  to  Lystra,  where 
there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  synagogue, 
since  we  hear  only  of  their  stirring  up  the  'multi- 
tudes.'     The    mantle    of    Saul  had    fallen    on    them, 


vs.  11-22]     DEIFIED  AND  STONED  71 

and  they  were  now  '  persecuting '  him  *  even  unto 
strange  cities.' 

No  note  is  given  of  the  time  between  the  attempted 
sacrifice  and  the  accomplished  stoning,  but  probably 
some  space  intervened.  Persuading  the  multitudes, 
however  fickle  they  were,  would  take  some  time ;  and 
indeed  one  ancient  text  of  Acts  has  an  expansion  of 
the  verse :  '  They  persuaded  the  multitudes  to  depart 
from  them  [the  Apostles],  saying  that  they  spake  no- 
thing true,  but  lied  in  everything.' 

No  doubt  some  time  elapsed,  but  few  emotions  are 
more  transient  than  such  impure  religious  excitement 
as  the  crowd  had  felt,  and  the  ebb  is  as  great  as  the 
flood,  and  the  oozy  bottom  laid  bare  is  foul.  Popular 
favourites  in  other  departments  have  to  experience 
the  same  fate — one  day,  'roses,  roses,  all  the  way'; 
the  next,  rotten  eggs  and  curses.  Other  folks  than 
the  ignorant  peasants  at  Lystra  have  had  devout 
emotion  surging  over  them  and  leaving  them  dry. 

Who  are  '  they  '  who  stoned  Paul  ?  Grammatically, 
the  Jews,  and  probably  it  was  so.  They  hated  him  so 
much  that  they  themselves  began  the  stoning ;  but  no 
doubt  the  mob,  which  is  always  cruel,  because  it  needs 
strong  excitement,  lent  willing  hands.  Did  Paul 
remember  Stephen,  as  the  stones  came  whizzing  on 
him?  It  is  an  added  touch  of  brutality  that  they 
dragged  the  supposed  corpse  out  of  the  city,  with  no 
gentle  hands,  we  may  be  sure.  Perhaps  it  was  flung 
down  near  the  very  temple  'before  the  city,'  where 
the  priest  that  wanted  to  sacrifice  was  on  duty. 

The  crowd,  having  wreaked  their  vengeance,  melted 
away,  but  a  handful  of  brave  disciples  remained, 
standing  round  the  bruised,  unconscious  form,  ready 
to  lay  it    tenderly  in    some  hastily  dug  grave.     No 


72  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiv. 

previous  mention  of  disciples  has  been  made.  The 
narrative  of  Acts  does  not  profess  to  be  complete, 
and  the  argument  from  its  silence  is  precarious. 

Luke  shows  no  disposition  to  easy  belief  in  miracles. 
He  does  not  know  that  Paul  was  dead;  his  medical 
skill  familiarised  him  with  protracted  states  of  uncon- 
sciousness ;  so  all  he  vouches  for  is  that  Paul  lay  as  if 
dead  on  some  rubbish  heap  'without  the  camp,'  and 
that,  with  courage  and  persistence  which  were  super- 
natural, whether  his  reviving  was  so  or  not,  the  man 
thus  sorely  battered  went  back  to  the  city,  and  next 
day  went  on  with  his  work,  as  if  stoning  was  a  trifle 
not  to  be  taken  account  of. 

The  Apostles  turned  at  Derbe,  and  coming  back  on 
their  outward  route,  reached  Antioch,  encouraging  the 
new  disciples,  who  had  now  to  be  left  truly  like  shep- 
herdless  sheep  among  wolves.  They  did  not  encourage 
them  by  making  light  of  the  dangers  waiting  them, 
but  they  plainly  set  before  them  the  law  of  the 
Kingdom,  which  they  had  seen  exemplified  in  Paul, 
that  we  must  suffer  if  we  would  reign  with  the  King. 
That  *  we '  in  verse  22  is  evidently  quoted  from  Paul, 
and  touchingly  shows  how  he  pointed  to  his  own 
stoning  as  what  they  too  must  be  prepared  to  suffer. 
It  is  a  thought  frequently  recurring  in  his  letters.  It 
remains  true  in  all  ages,  though  the  manner  of  suffer- 
ing varies. 


DREAM  AND  REALITY 

•The  gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men.'— Acts  xiv.  11. 

This  was   the   spontaneous    instinctive  utterance   of 
simple  villagers  when  they  saw  a  deed  of  power  and 


V.  11]  DREAM  AND  REALITY  73 

kindness.  Many  an  English  traveller  and  settler  among 
rude  people  has  been  similarly  honoured.  And  in 
Lycaonia  the  Apostles  were  close  upon  places  that 
were  celebrated  in  Greek  mythology  as  having  wit- 
nessed the  very  two  gods,  here  spoken  of,  wandering 
among  the  shepherds  and  entertained  with  modest 
hospitality  in  their  huts. 

The  incident  is  a  very  striking  and  picturesque 
one.  The  shepherd  people  standing  round,  the  sudden 
flash  of  awe  and  yet  of  gladness  which  ran  through 
them,  the  tumultuous  outcry,  which,  being  in  their  rude 
dialect,  was  unintelligible  to  the  Apostles  till  it  was 
interpreted  by  the  appearance  of  the  priest  of  Jupiter 
with  oxen  and  garlands  for  offerings,  the  glimpse  of  the 
two  Apostles — the  older,  graver,  venerable  Barnabas, 
the  younger,  more  active,  ready-tongued  Paul,  whom, 
their  imaginations  converted  into  the  Father  of  gods 
and  men,  and  the  herald  Mercury,  who  were  already 
associated  in  local  legends;  the  priest,  eager  to  gain 
credit  for  his  temple  '  before  the  city,'  the  lowing  oxen, 
and  the  vehement  appeal  of  the  Apostles,  make  a  pic- 
ture which  is  more  vividly  presented  in  the  simple 
narrative  than  even  in  the  cartoon  of  the  great  painter 
whom  the  narrative  has  inspired. 

But  we  have  not  to  deal  with  the  picturesque  element 
alone.  The  narratives  of  Scripture  are  representative 
because  they  are  so  penetrating  and  true.  They  go  to  the 
very  heart  of  the  men  and  things  which  they  describe  : 
and  hence  the  words  and  acts  which  they  record  are 
found  to  contain  the  essential  characteristics  of  whole 
classes  of  men,  and  the  portrait  of  an  individual  be- 
comes that  of  a  class.  This  joyful  outburst  of  the 
people  of  Lycaonia  gives  utterance  to  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  universal  convictions  of  heathenism,  and 


74  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiv. 

stands  in  very  close  and  intimate  relations  with  that 
greatest  of  all  facts  in  the  history  of  the  world,  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Word.  That  the  gods  come 
down  in  the  likeness  of  men  is  the  dream  of  heathenism. 
'  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,'  is  the 
sober,  waking  truth  which  meets  and  vindicates  and 
transcends  that  cry. 

I.  The  heathen  dream  of  incarnation. 

In  all  lands  we  find  this  belief  in  the  appearance  of  the 
gods  in  human  form.  It  inspired  the  art  and  poetry  of 
Greece.  Rome  believed  that  gods  had  charged  in  front 
of  their  armies  and  given  their  laws.  The  solemn, 
gloomy  religion  of  Egypt,  though  it  worshipped  animal 
forms,  yet  told  of  incarnate  and  suffering  gods.  The 
labyrinthine  mythologies  of  the  East  have  their  long- 
drawn  stories  of  the  avatars  of  their  gods  floating  many 
a  rood  on  the  weltering  ocean  of  their  legends.  Tibet 
cherishes  each  living  sovereign  as  a  real  embodiment 
of  the  divine.  And  the  lowest  tribes,  in  their  degraded 
worship,  have  not  departed  so  far  from  the  common 
type  but  that  they  too  have  some  faint  echoes  of  the 
universal  faith. 

Do  these  facts  import  anything  at  all  to  us  ?  Are  we 
to  dismiss  them  as  simply  the  products  of  a  stage  which 
we  have  left  far  behind,  and  to  plume  ourselves  that 
we  have  passed  out  of  the  twilight  ? 

Even  if  we  listen  to  what  comparative  mythology  has 
to  say,  it  still  remains  to  account  for  the  tendency  to 
shape  legends  of  the  earthly  appearance  of  the  gods ; 
and  we  shall  have  to  admit  that,  while  they  belong  to 
an  early  stage  of  the  world's  progress,  the  feelings  which 
they  express  belong  to  all  stages  of  it. 

Now  I  think  we  may  note  these  thoughts  as  con- 
tained in  this  universal  belief : 


V.  11]  DREAM  AND  REALITY  75 

The  consciousness  of  the  need  of  divine  help. 

The  certainty  of  a  fellowship  between  heaven  and 
earth. 

The  high  ideal  of  the  capacities  and  affinities  of  man. 

We  may  note  further  what  were  the  general  char- 
acteristics of  these  incarnations.  They  were  transient, 
they  were  *  docetic,'  as  they  are  called — that  is,  they 
were  merely  apparent  assumptions  of  human  form 
which  brought  the  god  into  no  nearer  or  truer  kindred 
with  humanity,  and  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  for 
very  self-regarding  and  often  most  immoral  ends,  the 
god's  personal  gratification  of  very  ungodlike  passions 
and  lust,  or  his  winning  victories  for  his  favourites,  or 
satisfying  his  anger  by  trampling  on  those  who  had 
incurred  his  very  human  wrath. 

II.  The  divine  answer  which  transcends  the  human 
dream. 

We  have  to  insist  that  the  t^uth  of  the  Incarnation 
is  the  corner-stone  of  Christianity.  If  that  is  struck 
out  the  whole  fabric  falls.  Without  it  there  may  be  a 
Christ  who  is  the  loftiest  and  greatest  of  men,  but  not 
the  Christ  who  '  saves  His  people  from  their  sins. 

That  being  so,  and  Christianity  having  this  feature 
in  common  with  all  the  religions  of  men,  how  are  we  to 
account  for  the  resemblance  ?  Are  we  to  listen  to  the 
rude  solution  which  says,  •  All  lies  alike '  ?  Are  we  to 
see  in  it  nothing  but  the  operation  of  like  tendencies,  or 
rather  illusions,  of  human  thought — man's  own  shadow 
projected  on  an  illuminated  mist  ?  Are  we  to  let  the 
resemblance  discredit  the  Christian  message  ?  Or  are 
we  to  say  that  all  these  others  are  unconscious  pro- 
phecies— man's  half-instinctive  expression  of  his  deep 
need  and  much  misunderstood  longing,  and  that  the 
Christian  proclamation  that  Jesus  is  '  God  manifest 


76  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xiv. 

in  the  flesh'  is  the  trumpet-toned  announcement  of 
Heaven's  answer  to  earth's  cry  ? 

Fairly  to  face  that  question  is  to  go  far  towards 
answering  it.  For  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  look  steadily 
at  the  facts,  we  find  that  the  differences  between  all 
these  other  appearances  and  the  Incarnation  are  so 
great  as  to  raise  the  presumption  that  their  origins 
are  different.  The  '  gods '  slipped  on  the  appearance  of 
humanity  over  their  garment  of  deity  in  appearance 
only,  and  that  for  a  moment.  Jesus  is  '  bone  of  our 
bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,'  and  is  not  merely  *  found 
in  fashion  as  a  man,'  but  is  '  in  all  points  like  as  we 
are.'  And  that  garb  of  manhood  He  wears  for  ever, 
and  in  His  heavenly  glory  is  '  the  Man  Christ  Jesus.' 

But  the  difference  between  all  these  other  appear- 
ances of  gods  and  the  Incarnation  lies  in  the  acts  to 
which  they  and  it  respectively  led,  and  the  purposes 
for  which  they  and  it  respectively  took  place.  A  god 
who  came  down  to  suffer,  a  god  who  came  to  die,  a 
god  who  came  to  be  the  supreme  example  of  all  fair 
humanities,  a  god  who  came  to  suffer  and  to  die  that 
men  might  have  life  and  be  victors  over  sin — where  is  he 
in  all  the  religions  of  the  world  ?  And  does  not  the  fact 
that  Christianity  alone  sets  before  men  such  a  God, 
such  an  Incarnation,  for  such  ends,  make  the  asser- 
tion a  reasonable  one,  that  the  sources  of  the  universal 
belief  in  gods  who  come  down  among  men  and  of  the 
Christian  proclamation  that  the  Eternal  Word  became 
flesh  are  not  the  same,  but  that  these  are  men's  half- 
understood  cries,  and  this  is  Heaven's  answer  ? 


'THE  DOOR  OF  FAITH* 

'And  when  they  were  come,  and  had  gathered  the  church  together,  they  re- 
hearsed all  that  God  had  done  with  them,  aud  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of 
faith  unto  the  Gentiles.'— Acts  xiv.  27. 

There  are  many  instances  of  the  occurrence  of  this 
metaphor  in  the  New  Testament,  but  none  is  exactly 
like  this.  We  read,  for  example,  of  '  a  great  door  and 
effectual '  being  opened  to  Paul  for  the  free  ministry  of 
the  word ;  and  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia, *  He  that  openeth  and  none  shall  shut '  graciously 
says,  *!  have  set  before  thee  a  door  opened,  which 
none  can  shut.'  But  here  the  door  is  faith,  that  is  to 
say  faith  is  conceived  of  as  the  means  of  entrance  for 
the  Gentiles  into  the  Kingdom,  which,  till  then,  Jews 
had  supposed  to  be  entered  by  hereditary  rite. 

I.  Faith  is  the  means  of  our  entrance  into  the 
Kingdom. 

The  Jew  thought  that  birth  and  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision were  the  door^  but  the  '  rehearsing '  of  the 
experiences  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  on  their  first 
missionary  tour  shattered  that  notion  by  the  logic  of 
facts.  Instead  of  that  narrow  postern  another  door- 
way had  been  broken  in  the  wall  of  the  heavenly  city, 
and  it  was  wide  enough  to  admit  of  multitudes  entering. 
Gentiles  had  plainly  come  in.  How  had  they  come  in  ? 
By  believing  in  Jesus.  Whatever  became  of  previous 
exclusive  theories,  there  was  a  fact  that  had  to  be 
taken  into  account.  It  distinctly  proved  that  faith 
was  '  the  gate  of  the  Lord  into  which,'  not  the  circum- 
cised but  the  '  righteous,'  who  were  righteous  because 
believing,  '  should  enter.' 

We  must  not  forget  the  other  use  of  the  metaphor, 

77 


78  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xiv. 

by  our  Lord  Himself,  in  which  He  declares  that  He  is 
the  Door.  The  two  representations  are  varying  but 
entirely  harmonious,  for  the  one  refers  to  the  objective 
fact  of  Christ's  work  as  making  it  possible  that  we 
should  draw  near  to  and  dwell  with  God,  and  the  other 
to  our  subjective  appropriation  of  that  possibility,  and 
making  it  a  reality  in  our  own  blessed  experience. 

II.  Faith  is  the  means  of  God's  entrance  into  our 
hearts. 

"We  possess  the  mysterious  and  awful  power  of  shut- 
ting God  out  of  these  hearts.  And  faith,  which  in  one 
aspect  is  our  means  of  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  is,  in  another,  the  means  of  God's  entrance  into 
us.  The  Psalm,  which  invokes  the  divine  presence  in 
the  Temple,  calls  on  the  '  everlasting  doors '  to  be  '  lifted 
up,'  and  promises  that  then  'the  King  of  Glory  will 
come  in.'  And  the  voice  of  the  ascended  Christ,  the 
King  of  Glory,  knocking  at  the  closed  door,  calls  on  us 
with  our  own  hands  to  open  the  door,  and  promises 
that  He  '  will  come  in.' 

Paul  prayed  for  the  Ephesian  Christians  '  that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith,'  and  there  is 
no  other  way  by  which  His  indwelling  is  possible. 
Faith  is  not  constituted  the  condition  of  that  divine 
indwelling  by  any  arbitrary  appointment,  as  a  sovereign 
might  determine  that  he  would  enter  a  city  by  a 
certain  route,  chosen  without  any  special  reason  from 
amongst  many,  but  in  the  nature  of  things  it  is 
necessary  that  trust,  and  love  which  follows  trust, 
and  longing  which  follows  love  should  be  active  in  a 
soul  if  Christ  is  to  enter  in  and  abide  there. 

III.  Faith  is  the  means  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Kingdom  into  us. 

If  Christ  comes  in  He  comes  with  His  pierced  hands 


V.  27]       BREAKING  OUT  OF  DISCORD       79 

full  of  gifts.  Through  our  faith  we  receive  all  spiritual 
blessings.  But  we  must  ever  remember,  what  this 
metaphor  most  forcibly  sets  forth,  that  faith  is  but  the 
means  of  entrance.  It  has  no  worth  in  itself,  but  is 
precious  only  because  it  admits  the  true  wealth.  The 
door  is  nothing.  It  is  only  an  opening.  Faith  is  the 
pipe  that  brings  the  water,  the  flinging  wide  the 
shutters  that  the  light  may  flood  the  dark  room, 
the  putting  oneself  into  the  path  of  the  electric  circuit. 
Salvation  is  not  arbitrarily  connected  with  faith.  It 
is  not  the  reward  of  faith  but  the  possession  of  what 
comes  through  faith,  and  cannot  come  in  any  other 
way.  Our  '  hearts '  are  '  purified  by  faith,'  because 
faith  admits  into  our  hearts  the  life,  and  instals  as 
dominant  in  them  the  powers,  the  motives,  the  Spirit, 
which  purify.  We  are  '  saved  by  faith,'  for  faith  brings 
into  our  spirits  the  Christ  who  saves  His  people  from 
their  sins,  when  He  abides  in  them  and  they  abide  in 
Him  through  their  faith. 


THE  BREAKING  OUT  OF  DISCORD 

'And  certain  men  which  came  down  from  Judaea  taught  the  brethren,  and  said. 
Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved.  2.  When 
therefore  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  no  small  dissension  and  disputation  with  them, 
they  determined  that  Paiil  and  Barnabas,  and  certain  other  of  them,  should  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  unto  the  apostles  and  elders  about  this  question.  3.  And  being 
brought  on  their  way  by  the  church,  they  passed  through  Phenice  and  Samaria, 
declaring  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles:  and  they  caused  great  joy  unto  all  the 
brethren,  i.  And  when  they  were  come  to  Jerusalem,  they  were  received  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  apostles  and  elders,  and  they  declared  all  things  that  God  had 
done  with  them.  5.  But  there  rose  up  certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees  which 
believed,  saying.  That  it  was  needful  to  circumcise  them,  and  to  command  them 
to  keep  the  law  of  Moses.  6.  And  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together  for  to 
consider  of  this  matter.'— Acts  xv.  1-6. 

The  question  as  to  the  conditions  on  which  Gentiles 
could  be  received  into  Christian  communion  had  already 
been  raised  by  the  case  of  Cornelius,  but  it  became 


80  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

more  acute  after  Paul's  missionary  journey.  The 
struggle  between  the  narrower  and  broader  views  was 
bound  to  come  to  a  head.  Traces  of  the  cleft  between 
Palestinian  and  Hellenist  believers  had  appeared  as 
far  back  as  the  '  murmuring '  about  the  unfair  neglect 
of  the  Hellenist  widows  in  the  distribution  of  relief, 
and  the  whole  drift  of  things  since  had  been  to  widen 
the  gap. 

Whether  the  '  certain  men '  had  a  mission  to  the 
Church  in  Antioch  or  not,  they  had  no  mandate  to  lay 
down  the  law  as  they  did.  Luke  delicately  suggests 
this  by  saying  that  they  'came  down  from  Judsea,' 
rather  than  from  Jerusalem.  We  should  be  fair  to 
these  men,  and  remember  how  much  they  had  to  say 
in  defence  of  their  position.  They  did  not  question 
that  Gentiles  could  be  received  into  the  Church,  but 
'  kept  on  teaching '  (as  the  word  in  the  Greek  implies) 
that  the  divinely  appointed  ordinance  of  circumcision 
was  the  '  door '  of  entrance.  God  had  prescribed  it,  and 
through  all  the  centuries  since  Moses,  all  who  came  into 
the  fold  of  Israel  had  gone  in  by  that  gate.  Where 
was  the  commandment  to  set  it  aside  ?  Was  not  Paul 
teaching  men  to  climb  up  some  other  way,  and  so 
blasphemously  abrogating  a  divine  law  ? 

No  wonder  that  honest  believers  in  Jesus  as  Messiah 
shrank  with  horror  from  such  a  revolutionary  pro- 
cedure. The  fact  that  they  were  Palestinian  Jews, 
who  had  never  had  their  exclusiveness  rubbed  off,  as 
Hellenists  like  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  had,  explains, 
and  to  some  extent  excuses,  their  position.  And  yet 
their  contention  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the  faith,  little 
as  they  meant  it.  Paul  saw  what  they  did  not  see — 
that  if  anything  else  than  faith  was  brought  in  as 
necessary  to  knit  men  to  Christ,  and  make  them  par- 


vs.  1-6]   BREAKING  OUT  OF  DISCORD        81 

takers  of  salvation,  faith  was  deposed  from  its  place, 
and  Christianity  sank  back  to  be  a  religion  of  '  works.' 
Experience  has  proved  that  anything  whatever  intro- 
duced as  associated  with  faith  ejects  faith  from  its 
place,  and  comes  to  be  recognised  as  the  means  of 
salvation.  It  must  be  faith  or  circumcision,  it  cannot 
be  faith  and  circumcision.  The  lesson  is  needed  to-day 
as  much  as  in  Antioch.  The  controversy  started  then 
is  a  perennial  one,  and  the  Church  of  the  present  needs 
Paul's  exhortation,  '  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,  and  be  not  en- 
tangled again  with  the  yoke  of  bondage.' 

The  obvious  course  of  appealing  to  Jerusalem  was 
taken,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  verse  2  the  verb 
'  appointed '  has  no  specified  subject.  Plainly,  however, 
it  was  the  Church  which  acted,  and  so  natural  did  that 
seem  to  Luke  that  he  felt  it  unnecessary  to  say  so.  No 
doubt  Paul  concurred,  but  the  suggestion  is  not  said  to 
have  come  from  him.  He  and  Barnabas  might  have 
asserted  their  authority,  and  declined  to  submit  what 
they  had  done  by  the  Spirit's  guidance  to  the  decision 
of  the  Apostles,  but  they  seek  the  things  that  make 
for  peace. 

No  doubt  the  other  side  was  represented  in  the 
deputation.  Jerusalem  was  the  centre  of  unity,  and 
remained  so  till  its  fall.  The  Apostles  and  elders  were 
the  recognised  leaders  of  the  Church.  Elders  here 
appear  as  holding  a  position  of  authority;  the  only 
previous  mention  of  them  is  in  Acts  xi.  30,  where  they 
receive  the  alms  sent  from  Antioch.  It  is  significant 
that  we  do  not  hear  of  their  first  appointment.  The 
organisation  of  the  Church  took  shape  as  exigencies 
prescribed. 

The  deputation  left  Antioch,  escorted  lovingly  for  a 

VOT,.  IT.  F 


82  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xv. 

little  way  by  the  Church,  and,  journeying  by  land, 
gladdened  the  groups  of  believers  in  *  Phenicia  and 
Samaria '  with  the  news  that  the  Gentiles  were  turning 
to  God.  We  note  that  they  are  not  said  to  have  spoken 
of  the  thorny  question  in  these  countries,  and  that  it 
is  not  said  that  there  was  joy  in  Judaea,  Perhaps  the 
Christians  in  it  were  in  sympathy  with  the  narrower 
view. 

The  first  step  taken  in  Jerusalem  was  to  call  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Church  to  welcome  the  deputation.  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  the  latter  did  not  broach  the  question  in 
debate,  but  told  the  story  of  the  success  of  their  mission. 
That  was  the  best  argument  for  receiving  Gentile  con- 
verts without  circumcision.  God  had  received  them; 
should  not  the  Church  do  so  ?  Facts  are  stronger 
than  theories.  It  was  Peter's  argument  in  the  case  of 
Cornelius  :  they  '  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well 
as  we,'  'who  was  I,  that  I  could  withstand  God?'  It 
is  the  argument  which  shatters  all  analogous  narrow- 
ing of  the  conditions  of  Christian  life.  If  men  say, 
'  Except  ye  be '  this  or  that  '  ye  cannot  be  saved,'  it  is 
enough  to  point  to  the  fruits  of  Christian  character, 
and  say,  *  These  show  that  the  souls  which  bring  them 
forth  are  saved,  and  you  must  widen  your  conceptions 
of  the  possibilities  to  include  these  actualities.'  It  is 
vain  to  say  '  Ye  cannot  be '  when  manifestly  they  are. 

But  the  logic  of  facts  does  not  convince  obstinate 
theorists,  and  so  the  Judaising  party  persisted  in  their 
'  It  is  needful  to  circumcise  them.'  None  are  so  blind  as 
those  to  whom  religion  is  mainly  a  matter  of  ritual. 
You  may  display  the  fairest  graces  of  Christian 
character  before  them,  and  you  get  no  answer  but  the 
reiteration  of  'It  is  needful  to  circumcise  you.'  But 
on  their  own  ground,  in  Jerusalem,  the  spokesmen  of 


vs.  1-6]  GENTILE  LIBERTY  83 

that  party  enlarged  their  demands.  In  Antioch  they 
had  insisted  on  circumcision,  in  Jerusalem  they  added 
the  demand  for  entire  conformity  to  the  Mosaic  law. 
They  were  quite  logical;  their  principle  demanded  that 
extension  of  the  requirement,  and  was  thereby  con- 
demned as  utterly  unworkable.  Now  that  the  whole 
battery  was  unmasked  the  issue  was  clear — Is  Chris- 
tianity to  be  a  Jewish  sect  or  the  universal  religion  ? 
Clear  as  it  was,  few  in  that  assembly  saw  it.  But  the 
parting  of  the  ways  had  been  reached. 


THE  CHARTER  OF  GENTILE  LIBERTY 

'  Then  all  the  multitude  kept  silence,  and  gave  audience  to  Barnabas  and  Paul, 
declaring  what  miracles  and  wonders  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by 
them.  13.  And  after  they  had  held  their  peace,  James  answered,  saying.  Men  and 
brethren,  hearken  unto  me :  14.  Simeon  hath  declared  how  God  at  the  first  did  visit 
the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  His  name.  15.  And  to  this  agree  the 
words  of  the  prophets ;  as  it  is  written,  16.  After  this  I  will  return,  and  will  build 
again  the  tabernacle  of  David,  which  is  fallen  down ;  and  I  will  build  again  the 
ruins  thereof,  and  I  will  set  it  up :  17.  That  the  residue  of  men  might  seek  after 
the  Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles,  upon  whom  My  name  is  called,  saith  the  Lord,  who 
doeth  all  these  things.  18.  Known  unto  God  are  all  His  works  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world.  19.  Wherefore  my  sentence  is,  that  we  trouble  not  them,  which  from 
among  the  Gentiles  are  turned  to  God :  20.  But  that  we  write  unto  them,  that 
they  abstain  from  pollutions  of  idols,  and  from  fornication,  and  from  things 
strangled,  and  from  blood.  21.  For  Moses  of  old  time  hath  in  every  city  them  that 
preach  Him,  being  read  in  the  synagogues  every  sabbath  daj'.  22.  Then  pleased  it 
the  apostles  and  elders,  with  the  whole  church,  to  send  chosen  men  of  their  own 
company  to  Antioch  with  Paiil  and  Barnabas ;  namely,  Judas  surnamed  Barsabas, 
and  Silas,  chief  men  among  the  brethren  :  23.  And  they  wrote  letters  by  them 
after  this  manner ;  The  apostles  and  elders  and  brethren  send  greeting  unto  the 
brethren  which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch  and  Syria  and  Cilicia :  24.  Foras- 
much as  we  have  heard,  that  certain  which  went  out  from  us  have  troubled  you 
with  words,  subverting  your  souls,  saying.  Ye  must  be  circumcised,  and  keep  the 
law :  to  whom  we  gave  no  such  commandment :  25.  It  seemed  good  unto  us, 
being  assembled  with  one  accord,  to  send  chosen  men  unto  you  with  our  beloved 
Barnabas  and  Paul,  26.  Men  that  have  hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  27.  We  have  sent  therefore  Judas  and  Silas,  who  shall  also 
tell  you  the  same  things  by  mouth.  28.  For  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  to  us,  to  lay  upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary  things ;  29.  That 
ye  abstain  from  meats  offered  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled, 
and  from  fornication  :  from  which  if  ye  keep  yourselves,  ye  shall  do  well.  Fare 
ye  well.'— Acts  xv.  12-29. 

Much  was  at  stake  in  the  decision  of  this  gathering  of 
the  Church.  If  the  Jewish  party  triumphed,  Christian- 
ity sank  to  the  level  of  a  Jewish  sect.    The  question 


84  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

brought  up  for  decision  was  difficult,  and  there  was  much 
to  be  said  for  the  view  that  the  Mosaic  law  was  binding 
on  Gentile  converts.  It  must  have  been  an  uprooting 
of  deepest  beliefs  for  a  Jewish  Christian  to  contemplate 
the  abrogation  of  that  law,  venerable  by  its  divine 
origin,  by  its  hoary  antiquity,  by  its  national  associa- 
tions. "We  must  not  be  hard  upon  men  who  clung  to 
it ;  but  we  should  learn  from  their  final  complete  drift- 
ing away  from  Christianity  how  perilous  is  the  position 
which  insists  on  the  necessity  to  true  discipleship  of 
any  outward  observance. 

Our  passage  begins  in  the  middle  of  the  conference. 
Peter  has,  with  characteristic  vehemence,  dwelt  upon 
the  divine  attestation  of  the  genuine  equality  of  the 
uncircumcised  converts  with  the  Jewish,  given  by  their 
possession  of  the  same  divine  Spirit,  and  has  flung  fiery 
questions  at  the  Judaisers,  which  silenced  them.  Then, 
after  the  impressive  hush  following  his  eager  words, 
Barnabas  and  Paul  tell  their  story  once  more,  and 
clinch  the  nail  driven  by  Peter  by  asserting  that  God 
had  already  by  '  signs  and  wonders '  given  His  sanction 
to  the  admission  of  Gentiles  without  circumcision. 
Characteristically,  in  Jerusalem  Barnabas  is  restored 
to  his  place  above  Paul,  and  is  named  first  as  speaking 
first,  and  regarded  by  the  Jerusalem  Church  as  the 
superior  of  the  missionary  pair. 

The  next  speaker  is  James,  not  an  Apostle,  but  the 
bishop  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  of  whom  tradition 
tells  that  he  was  a  zealous  adherent  to  the  Mosaic  law 
in  his  own  person,  and  that  his  knees  were  as  hard  as  a 
camel's  through  continual  prayer.  It  is  singular  that 
this  meeting  should  be  so  often  called  'the  Apostolic 
council,'  when,  as  a  fact,  only  one  Apostle  said  a 
word,  and  he  not  as  an  Apostle,  but  as  the  chosen 


vs.  12-29]         GENTILE  LIBERTY  85 

instrument  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles.  'The  elders,' 
of  whose  existence  we  now  hear  for  the  first  time  in 
this  wholly  incidental  manner,  were  associated  with 
the  Apostles  (ver.  6),  and  the  'multitude'  (ver.  12)  is 
most  naturally  taken  to  be  'the  whole  Church'  (ver. 
22).  James  represents  the  eldership,  and  as  bishop  in 
Jerusalem  and  an  eager  observer  of  legal  prescriptions, 
fittingly  speaks.  His  words  practically  determined  the 
question.  Like  a  wise  man,  he  begins  with  facts.  His 
use  of  the  intensely  Jewish  form  of  the  name  Simeon 
is  an  interesting  reminiscence  of  old  days.  So  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  call  Peter  when  they  were  all  young 
together,  and  so  he  calls  him  still,  though  everybody 
else  named  him  by  his  new  name.  What  God  had  done 
by  him  seems  to  James  to  settle  the  whole  question ; 
for  it  was  nothing  else  than  to  put  the  Gentile  converts 
without  circumcision  on  an  equality  with  the  Jewish 
part  of  the  Church. 

Note  the  significant  juxtaposition  of  the  words 
'Gentiles'  and  'people' — the  former  the  name  for 
heathen,  the  latter  the  sacred  designation  of  the  chosen 
nation.  The  great  paradox  which,  through  Peter's 
preaching  at  Csesarea,  had  become  a  fact  was  that  the 
'  people  of  God '  were  made  up  of  Gentiles  as  well  as 
Jews— that  His  name  was  equally  imparted  to  both. 
If  God  had  made  Gentiles  His  people,  had  He  not 
thereby  shown  that  the  special  observances  of  Israel 
were  put  aside,  and  that,  in  particular,  circumcision 
was  no  longer  the  condition  of  entrance  ?  The  end  of 
national  distinction  and  the  opening  of  a  new  way  of 
incorporation  among  the  people  of  God  were  clearly  con- 
tained in  the  facts.  How  much  Christian  narrowness 
would  be  blown  to  atoms  if  its  advocates  would  do  as 
James  did,  and  let  God's  facts  teach  them  the  width  of 


86  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xv. 

God's  purposes  and  the  comprehensiveness  of  Christ's 
Church !  We  do  wisely  when  we  square  our  theories 
with  facts ;  but  many  of  us  go  to  work  in  the  opposite 
way,  and  snip  down  facts  to  the  dimension  of  our 
theories. 

James's  next  step  is  marked  equally  by  calm  wisdom 
and  open-mindedness.  He  looks  to  God's  word,  as 
interpreted  by  God's  deeds,  to  throw  light  in  turn  on 
the  deeds  and  to  confirm  the  interpretation  of  these. 
Two  things  are  to  be  noted  in  considering  his  quotation 
from  Amos — its  bearing  on  the  question  in  hand,  and 
its  divergence  from  the  existing  Hebrew  text.  As  to 
the  former,  there  seems  at  first  sight  nothing  relevant 
to  James's  purpose  in  the  quotation,  which  simply 
declares  that  the  Gentiles  will  seek  the  Lord  when  the 
fallen  tabernacle  of  David  is  rebuilt.  That  period  of 
time  has  at  least  begun,  thinks  James,  in  the  work  of 
Jesus,  in  whom  the  decayed  dominion  of  David  is  again 
in  higher  form  established.  The  return  of  the  Gentiles 
does  not  merely  synchronise  with,  but  is  the  intended 
issue  of,  Christ's  reign.  Lifted  from  the  earth.  He  will 
draw  all  men  unto  Him,  and  they  shall '  seek  the  Lord,' 
and  on  them  His  name  will  be  called. 

Now  the  force  of  this  quotation  lies,  as  it  seems,  first 
in  the  fact  that  Peter's  experience  at  Csesarea  is  to  be 
taken  as  an  indication  of  how  God  means  the  prophecy 
to  be  fulfilled,  namely,  without  circumcision;  and 
secondly,  in  the  arguinentum  a  silentio,  since  the 
prophet  says  nothing  about  ritual  or  the  like,  but 
declares  that  moral  and  spiritual  qualifications — on  the 
one  hand  a  true  desire  after  God,  and  on  the  other 
receiving  the  proclamation  of  His  name  and  calling 
themselves  by  it— are  all  that  are  needed  to  make 
Gentiles  God's  people.     Just  because  there  ia  nothing 


vs.  12-29]  GENTILE  LIBERTY  87 

in  the  prophecy  about  observing  Jewish  ceremonies, 
and  something  about  longing  and  faith,  James  thinks 
that  these  are  the  essentials,  and  that  the  others  may- 
be dropped  by  the  Church,  as  God  had  dropped  them  in 
the  case  of  Cornelius,  and  as  Amos  had  dropped  them 
in  his  vision  of  the  future  kingdom.  God  knew  what 
He  meant  to  do  when  He  spoke  through  the  prophet, 
and  what  He  has  done  has  explained  the  words,  as 
James  says  in  verse  18. 

The  variation  from  the  Hebrew  text  requires  a  word 
of  comment.  The  quotation  is  substantially  from  the 
Septuagint,  with  a  slight  alteration.  Probably  James 
quoted  the  version  familiar  to  many  of  his  hearers.  It 
seems  to  have  been  made  from  a  somewhat  different 
Hebrew  text  in  verse  17,  but  the  difference  is  very  much 
slighter  than  an  English  reader  would  suppose.  Our 
text  has  '  Edom '  where  the  Septuagint  has  '  men ' ;  but 
the  Hebrew  words  without  vowels  are  identical  but  for 
the  addition  of  one  letter  in  the  former.  Our  text  has 
'inherit'  where  the  Septuagint  has  'seek  after';  but 
there  again  the  difference  in  the  two  Hebrew  words 
would  be  one  letter  only,  so  that  there  may  well  have 
been  a  various  reading  as  preserved  in  the  Septuagint 
and  Acts.  James  adds  to  the  Septuagint  'seek'  the 
evidently  correct  completion  '  the  Lord.' 

Now  it  is  obvious  that,  even  if  we  suppose  his  render- 
ing of  the  whole  verse  to  be  a  paraphrase  of  the  same 
Hebrew  text  as  we  have,  it  is  a  correct  representation 
of  the  meaning;  for  the  'inheriting  of  Edom'  is  no 
mere  external  victory,  and  Edom  is  always  in  the  Old 
Testament  the  type  of  the  godless  man.  The  conquest 
of  the  Gentiles  by  the  restorer  of  David's  tabernacle  is 
really  the  seeking  after  the  Lord,  and  the  calling  of  His 
name  upon  the  Gentiles, 


88  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

The  conclusion  drawn  by  James  is  full  of  practical 
wisdom,  and  would  have  saved  the  Church  from  many 
a  sad  page  in  its  history,  if  its  spirit  had  been  prevalent 
in  later  'councils.'  Note  how  the  very  designation 
given  to  the  Gentile  converts  in  verse  19  carries  argu- 
mentative force.  '  They  turn  to  God  from  among  the 
Gentiles' — if  they  have  done  that,  surely  their  new 
separation  and  new  attachment  are  enough,  and  make 
insistence  on  circumcision  infinitely  ridiculous.  They 
have  the  thing  signified ;  what  does  it  matter  about  the 
sign,  which  is  good  for  us  Jews,  but  needless  for  them  ? 
If  Church  rulers  had  always  been  as  open-eyed  as  this 
bishop  in  Jerusalem,  and  had  been  content  if  people 
were  joined  to  God  and  parted  from  the  world,  what 
torrents  of  blood,  what  frowning  walls  of  division, 
what  scandals  and  partings  of  brethren  would  have 
been  spared ! 

The  observances  suggested  are  a  portion  of  the  pre- 
cepts enjoined  by  Judaism  on  proselytes.  The  two 
former  were  necessary  to  the  Christian  life ;  the  two 
latter  were  not,  but  were  concessions  to  the  Jewish  feel- 
ings of  the  stricter  party.  The  conclusion  may  be  called 
a  compromise,  but  it  was  one  dictated  by  the  desire  for 
unity,  and  had  nothing  unworthy  in  it.  There  should 
be  giving  and  taking  on  both  sides.  If  the  Jewish 
Christians  made  the,  to  them,  immense  concession  of 
waiving  the  necessity  of  circumcision,  the  Gentile 
section  might  surely  make  the  small  one  of  abstinence 
from  things  strangled  and  from  blood.  Similarities  in 
diet  would  daily  assimilate  the  lives  of  the  two  parties, 
and  would  be  a  more  visible  and  continuous  token  of 
their  oneness  than  the  single  act  of  circumcision. 

But  what  does  the  reason  in  verse  21  mean  ?  Why 
should  the  reading  of  Moses  every  Sabbath  be  a  reason 


vs.  12-29]         GENTILE  LIBERTY  89 

for  these  concessions  ?  Various  answers  are  given :  but 
the  most  natural  is  that  the  constant  promulgation  of 
the  law  made  respect  for  the  feelings  (even  if  mistaken) 
of  Jewish  Christians  advisable,  and  the  course  sug- 
gested the  most  likely  to  win  Jews  who  were  not  yet 
Christians.  Both  classes  would  be  flung  farther  apart 
if  there  were  not  some  yielding.  The  general  principle 
involved  is  that  one  cannot  be  too  tender  with  old  and 
deeply  rooted  convictions  even  if  they  be  prejudices, 
and  that  Christian  charity,  which  is  truest  wisdom, 
will  consent  to  limitations  of  Christian  liberty,  if  there- 
by any  little  one  who  believes  in  Him  shall  be  saved 
from  being  offended,  or  any  unbeliever  from  being 
repelled. 

The  letter  embodying  James's  wise  suggestion  needs 
little  further  notice.  We  may  observe  that  there  was 
no  imposing  and  authoritative  decision  of  the  Ecclesia, 
but  that  the  whole  thing  was  threshed  out  in  free  talk, 
and  then  the  unanimous  judgment  of  the  community, 
'Apostles,  elders  and  the  whole  Church,'  was  embodied  in 
the  epistle.  Observe  the  accurate  rendering  of  verse  25 
(R.V.),  '  having  come  to  one  accord,'  which  gives  a  lively 
picture  of  the  process.  Note  too  that  James's  proposal 
of  a  letter  was  mended  by  the  addition  of  a  deputation, 
consisting  of  an  unknown  'Judas  called  Barsabas' 
(perhaps  a  relative  of  'Joseph  called  Barsabas,'  the 
unsuccessful  nominee  for  Apostleship  in  chap,  i.),  and 
the  well-known  Silas  or  Silvanus,  of  whom  we  hear  so 
much  in  Paul's  letters.  That  journey  was  the  turning- 
point  in  his  life,  and  he  henceforward,  attracted  by  the 
mass  and  magnetism  of  Paul's  great  personality, 
revolved  round  him,  and  forsook  Jerusalem. 

Probably  James  drew  up  the  document,  which  has 
the  same  somewhat  unusual  'greeting'  as  his  Epistle, 


90  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

The  sharp  reference  to  the  Judaisiug  teachers  would  be 
difficult  for  their  sympathisers  to  swallow,  but  charity 
is  not  broken  by  plain  repudiation  of  error  and  its 
teachers.  'Subverting  your  souls'  is  a  heavy  charge. 
The  word  is  only  here  found  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  means  to  unsettle,  the  image  in  it  being  that  of 
packing  up  baggage  for  removal.  The  disavowal  of 
these  men  is  more  complete  if  we  follow  the  Revised 
Version  in  reading  (ver.  24)  '  no  commandment '  instead 
of  '  no  such  commandment.' 

These  unauthorised  teachers  *  went ' ;  but,  in  strong 
contrast  with  them,  Judas  and  Silas  are  chosen  out  and 
sent.  Another  thrust  at  the  Judaising  teachers  is  in 
the  affectionate  eulogy  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  as 
'beloved,'  whatever  disparaging  things  had  been  said 
about  them,  and  as  having  '  hazarded  their  lives,'  while 
these  others  had  taken  very  good  care  of  themselves, 
and  had  only  gone  to  disturb  converts  whom  Paul  and 
Barnabas  had  won  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 

The  calm  matter-of-course  assertion  that  the  decision 
which  commended  itself  to  '  us '  is  the  decision  of  '  the 
Holy  Ghost'  was  warranted  by  Christ's  promises,  and 
came  from  the  consciousness  that  they  had  observed  the 
conditions  which  He  had  laid  down.  They  had  brought 
their  minds  to  bear  upon  the  question,  with  the  light  of 
facts  and  of  Scripture,  and  had  come  to  a  unanimous 
conclusion.  If  they  believed  their  Lord's  parting  words, 
they  could  not  doubt  that  His  Spirit  had  guided  them. 
If  we  lived  more  fully  in  that  Spirit,  we  should  know 
more  of  the  same  peaceful  assurance,  which  is  far 
removed  from  the  delusion  of  our  own  infallibility,  and 
is  the  simple  expression  of  trust  in  the  veracious 
promises  of  our  Lord. 

The   closing   words    of   the   letter   are   beautifully 


vs.  12-29]     A  GOOD  MAN'S  FAULTS  91 

brotherly,  sinking  authority,  and  putting  in  the  fore- 
ground the  advantage  to  the  Gentile  converts  of 
compliance  with  the  injunctions.  'Ye  shall  do  vrell,' 
rightly  and  conformably  with  the  requirements  of 
brotherly  love  to  weaker  brethren.  And  thus  doing 
well,  they  will  •  fare  well,'  and  be  strong.  That  is  not 
the  way  in  which  'lords  over  God's  heritage'  are 
accustomed  to  end  their  decrees.  Brotherly  affection, 
rather  than  authority  imposing  its  will,  breathes  here. 
Would  that  all  succeeding  *  Councils '  had  imitated  this 
as  well  as  '  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to 
us'I 

A  GOOD  MAN'S  FAULTS 

'  And  Barnabas  determined  to  take  with  them  John,  •whose  surname  was  Mark. 
38.  But  Paul  thought  not  good  to  take  him  with  them,  who  departed  from  them 
from  Pamphylia,  and  went  not  with  them  to  the  work.'— Acts  xv.  37,  38. 

Scripture  narratives  are  remarkable  for  the  frank- 
ness with  which  they  tell  the  faults  of  the  best  men. 
It  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  cynical  spirit  in 
historians,  of  which  this  age  has  seen  eminent  examples, 
which  fastens  upon  the  weak  places  in  the  noblest 
natures,  like  a  wasp  on  bruises  in  the  ripest  fruit,  and 
delights  in  showing  how  all  goodness  is  imperfect,  that 
it  may  suggest  that  none  is  genuine.  Nor  has  it  any- 
thing in  common  with  that  dreary  melancholy  which 
also  has  its  representatives  among  us,  that  sees  every- 
where only  failures  and  fragments  of  men,  and  has  no 
hope  of  ever  attaining  anything  beyond  the  common 
average  of  excellence.  But  Scripture  frankly  confesses 
that  all  its  noblest  characters  have  fallen  short  of 
unstained  purity,  and  with  boldness  of  hope  as  great 
as  its  frankness  teaches  the  weakest  to  aspire,  and  the 
most  sinful  to  expect  perfect   likeness   to  a  perfect 


92  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

Lord.      It  is  a  plane  mirror,   giving  back  all  images 
without  distortion. 

We  recall  how  emphatically  and  absolutely  it  eulo- 
gised Barnabas  as  '  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith' — and  now  we  have  to  notice  how  this 
man,  thus  full  of  the  seminal  principle  of  all  goodness, 
derived  into  his  soul  by  deep  and  constant  communion 
through  faith,  and  showing  in  his  life  practical  right- 
eousness and  holiness,  yet  goes  sadly  astray,  tarnishes 
his  character,  and  mars  his  whole  future. 

The  two  specific  faults  recorded  of  him  are  his  over- 
indulgence in  the  case  of  Mark,  and  his  want  of  firm- 
ness in  opposition  to  the  Judaising  teachers  who  came 
down  to  Antioch.  They  were  neither  of  them  grave 
faults,  but  they  were  real.  In  the  one  he  was  too 
facile  in  overlooking  a  defect  which  showed  unfitness 
for  the  work,  and  seems  to  have  yielded  to  family  affec- 
tion and  to  have  sacrificed  the  efiiciency  of  a  mission  to 
it.  Not  only  was  he  wrong  in  proposing  to  condone 
Mark's  desertion,  but  he  was  still  more  wrong  in  his 
reception  of  the  opposition  to  his  proposal.  With  the 
firmness  which  weak  characters  so  often  display  at  the 
wrong  time,  he  was  resolved,  come  what  would,  to  have 
his  own  way.  Temper  rather  than  principle  made  him 
obstinate  where  he  should  have  been  yielding,  as  it  had 
made  him  in  Antioch  yielding,  where  he  should  have 
been  firm.  Paul's  remonstrances  have  no  effect.  He 
will  rather  have  his  own  way  than  the  companionship 
of  his  old  friend,  and  so  there  come  alienation  and 
separation.  The  Church  at  Antioch  takes  Paul's  view- 
all  the  brethren  are  unanimous  in  disapproval.  But 
Barnabas  will  not  move.  He  sets  up  his  own  feeling  in 
opposition  to  them  all.  The  sympathy  of  his  brethren, 
the  work  of  his  life,  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom, 


vs.  37, 38]    A  GOOD  MAN'S  FAULTS  93 

are  all  tossed  aside.  His  own  foolish  purpose  is  more 
to  him  in  that  moment  of  irritation  than  all  these.  So 
he  snaps  the  tie,  abandons  his  work,  and  goes  away 
without  a  kindly  word,  without  a  blessing,  without  the 
Church's  prayers — but  with  his  nephew  for  whom  he 
had  given  up  all  these.  Paul  sails  away  to  do  God's 
work,  and  the  Church  '  recommends  him  to  the  grace  of 
God,'  but  Barnabas  steals  away  home  to  Cyprus,  and 
his  name  is  no  more  heard  in  the  story  of  the  planting 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

One  hopes  that  his  work  did  not  stop  thus,  but  his 
recorded  work  does,  and  in  the  band  of  friends  who 
surrounded  the  great  Apostle,  the  name  of  his  earliest 
friend  appears  no  more.  Other  companions  and  asso- 
ciates in  labour  take  his  place;  he,  as  it  appears,  is 
gone  for  ever.  One  reference  (1  Cor.  ix.  6)  at  a  later 
date  seems  most  naturally  to  suggest  that  he  still  con- 
tinued in  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  still  practised 
the  principle  to  which  he  and  Paul  had  adhered  when 
together,  of  supporting  himself  by  manual  labour.  The 
tone  of  the  reference  implies  that  there  were  relations 
of  mutual  respect.  But  the  most  we  can  believe  is  that 
probably  the  two  men  still  thought  kindly  of  each 
other  and  honoured  each  other  for  their  work's  sake, 
but  found  it  better  to  labour  apart,  and  not  to  seek 
to  renew  the  old  companionship  which  had  been  so 
violently  torn  asunder. 

The  other  instance  of  weakness  was  in  some  respects 
of  a  still  graver  kind.  The  cause  of  it  was  the  old  con- 
troversy about  the  obligations  of  Jewish  law  on  Gentile 
Christians.  Paul,  Peter,  and  Barnabas  all  concurred  in 
neglecting  the  restrictions  imposed  by  Judaism,  and  in 
living  on  terms  of  equality  and  association  in  eating 
and  drinking  with  the  heathen  converts  at  Antioch.   A 


94  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xv. 

principle  was  involved,  to  which  Barnabas  had  been 
the  first  to  give  in  his  adhesion,  in  the  frank  recog- 
nition of  the  Antioch  Church.  But  as  soon  as  emis- 
saries from  the  other  party  came  down,  Peter  and  he 
abandoned  their  association  with  Gentile  converts,  not 
changing  their  convictions  but  suppressing  the  action 
to  which  their  convictions  should  have  led.  They  pre- 
tended to  be  of  the  same  mind  with  these  narrow  Jews 
from  Jerusalem.  They  insulted  their  brethren,  they 
deserted  Paul,  they  belied  their  convictions,  they  im- 
perilled the  cause  of  Christian  liberty,  they  flew  in  the 
face  of  what  Peter  had  said  that  God  Himself  had 
showed  him,  they  did  their  utmost  to  degrade  Christi- 
anity into  a  form  of  Judaism — all  for  the  sake  of  keep- 
ing on  good  terms  with  the  narrow  bigotry  of  these 
Judaising  teachers. 

Now  if  we  take  these  two  facts  together,  and  set 
them  side  by  side  with  the  eulogy  pronounced  on  Bar- 
nabas as  •  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of 
faith,'  we  have  brought  before  us  in  a  striking  form 
some  important  considerations. 

I.  The  imperfect  goodness  of  good  men. 

A  good  man  does  not  mean  a  faultless  man.  Of  course 
the  power  which  works  on  a  believing  soul  is  always 
tending  to  produce  goodness  and  only  goodness.  But 
its  operation  is  not  such  that  we  are  always  equally, 
uniformly,  perfectly  under  its  influence.  Power  in  germ 
is  one  thing,  in  actual  operation  another.  There  may  be 
but  a  little  ragged  patch  of  green  in  the  garden,  and  yet 
it  may  be  on  its  way  to  become  a  flower-bed.  A  king 
may  not  have  established  dominion  over  all  his  land. 
The  actual  operation  of  that  transforming  Spirit  at  any 
given  moment  is  limited,  and  we  can  withdraw  ourselves 
from  it.    It  does  not  begin  by  leavening  all  our  nature. 


vs.  37  38]    A  GOOD  MAN'S  FAULTS  95 

So  we  have  to  note — 

The  root  of  goodness. 

The  main  direction  of  a  life. 

The  progressive  character  of  goodness. 

The  highest  style  of  Christian  life  is  a  struggle.  So 
we  draw  practical  inferences  as  to  the  conduct  of  life. 

This  thought  of  imperfection  does  not  diminish  the 
criminality  of  individual  acts. 

It  does  not  weaken  aspiration  and  effort  towards 
higher  life. 

It  does  alleviate  our  doubts  and  fears  when  we  find 
evil  in  ourselves. 

II.  The  possible  evil  lurking  in  our  best  qualities. 

In  Barnabas,  his  amiability  and  openness  of  nature, 
the  very  characteristics  that  had  made  him  strong,  now 
make  him  weak  and  wrong. 

How  clearly  then  there  is  brought  out  here  the 
danger  that  lurks  even  in  our  good !  I  need  not  remind 
you  how  every  virtue  may  be  run  to  an  extreme  and 
become  a  vice.  Liberality  is  exaggerated  into  prodi- 
gality ;  firmness,  into  obstinacy ;  mercy,  into  weak- 
ness ;  gravity,  into  severity ;  tolerance,  into  feeble 
conviction ;  humility,  into  abjectness. 

And  these  extremes  are  reached  when  these  graces 
are  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  symmetry  of  the 
character. 

We  are  not  simple  but  complex,  and  what  we  need 
to  aim  at  is  a  character,  not  an  excrescence.  Some 
people's  goodness  is  like  a  wart  or  a  wen.  Their  virtues 
are  cases  of  what  medical  technicality  calls  hypertrophy. 
But  our  goodness  should  be  like  harmonious  Indian 
patterns,  where  all  colours  blend  in  a  balanced  whole. 

Such  considerations  enforce  the  necessity  for  rigid 
self-control.    And  that  in  two  directions. 


96  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xv. 

(a)  Beware  of  your  excellences,  your  strong  points. 

(6)  Cultivate  sedulously  the  virtues  to  which  you  are 
not  inclined. 

The  special  form  of  error  into  which  Barnahas  fell  is 
worth  notice.  It  was  over-indulgence,  tolerance  of  evil 
in  a  person ;  feebleness  of  grasp,  a  deficiency  of  bold- 
ness in  carrying  out  his  witness  to  a  disputed  truth. 
In  this  day  liberality,  catholicity,  are  pushed  so  far  that 
there  is  danger  of  our  losing  the  firmness  of  our  grasp 
of  principles,  and  indulgence  for  faults  goes  so  far 
that  we  are  apt  to  lose  the  habit  of  unsparing,  though 
unangry,  condemnation  of  unworthy  characters.  This 
generation  is  like  Barnabas ;  very  quick  in  sympathy, 
generous  in  action,  ready  to  recognise  goodness  where- 
ever  it  is  beheld.  But  Barnabas  may  be  a  beacon, 
warning  us  of  the  possible  evils  that  dog  these  excel- 
lences like  their  shadows. 

III.  The  grave  issues  of  small  faults. 

Comparatively  trivial  as  was  Barnabas's  error,  it 
seems  to  have  wrecked  his  life,  at  least  to  have  marred 
it  for  long  years,  and  to  have  broken  his  sweet  com- 
panionship with  Paul.  I  think  we  may  go  further  and 
say,  that  most  good  men  are  in  more  danger  from 
trivial  faults  than  from  great  ones.  No  man  reaches 
the  superlative  degree  of  wickedness  all  at  once. 
Few  men  spring  from  the  height  to  the  abyss,  they 
usually  slip  down.  The  erosive  action  of  the  sand  of 
the  desert  is  said  to  be  gradually  cutting  oif  the 
Sphinx's  head.  The  small  faults  are  most  numerous. 
We  are  least  on  our  guard  against  them.  There  is  a 
microscopic  weed  that  chokes  canals.  Snow-flakes 
make  the  sky  as  dark  as  an  eclipse  does.  White  ants 
eat  a  carcase  quicker  than  a  lion  does. 

So  we  urge  the  necessity  for  bringing  ordinary  deeds 


vs.  37, 38]  A  PROSPEROUS  VOYAGE  97 

and  small  actions  to  be  ruled  and  guided  by  God's 
Spirit. 

How  the  contemplation  of  the  imperfection,  which  is 
the  law  of  life,  should  lead  us  to  hope  for  that  heaven 
where  perfection  is. 

How  the  contemplation  of  the  limits  of  all  human 
goodness  should  lead  us  to  exclusive  faith  in,  and  imita- 
tion of,  the  one  perfect  Lord.  He  stands  stainless 
among  the  stained.  In  Him  alone  is  no  sin,  from  Him 
alone  like  goodness  may  be  ours. 


HOW  TO  SECURE  A  PROSPEROUS  VOYAGE 

'  And  after  [Paul]  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  we  endeavoured  to  go  into 
Macedonia,  assui-edly  gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called  us  for  to  preach  the  gospel 
unto  them.    11.  Therefore  ...  we  came  with  a  straight  course.'— Acts  xvi.  10, 11. 

This  book  of  the  Acts  is  careful  to  point  out  how  each 
fresh  step  in  the  extension  of  the  Church's  work  was 
directed  and  commanded  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 
Thus  Philip  was  sent  by  specific  injunction  to  'join 
himself  to  the  chariot  of  the  Ethiopian  statesman. 
Thus  Peter  on  the  house-top  at  Joppa,  looking  out 
over  the  waters  of  the  western  sea,  had  the  vision  of 
the  great  sheet,  knit  at  the  four  corners.  And  thus 
Paul,  in  singularly  similar  circumstances,  in  the  little 
seaport  of  Troas,  looking  out  over  the  narrower  sea 
which  there  separates  Asia  from  Europe,  had  the  vision 
of  the  man  of  Macedonia,  with  his  cry,  '  Come  over  and 
help  us ! '  The  whole  narrative  before  us  bears  upon 
the  one  point,  that  Christ  Himself  directs  the  expansion 
of  His  kingdom.  And  there  never  was  a  more  fateful 
moment  than  that  at  which  the  Gospel,  in  the  person 
of  the  Apostle,  crossed  the  sea,  and  effected  a  lodg- 
ment in  the  progressive  quarter  of  the  world. 
VOL.  II.  G 


98  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xvi. 

Now  what  I  wish  to  do  is  to  note  how  Paul  and  his 
little  company  behaved  themselves  when  they  had 
received  Christ's  commandment.  For  I  think  there 
are  lessons  worth  the  gathering  to  be  found  there. 
There  was  no  doubt  about  the  vision ;  the  question 
was  what  it  meant.  So  note  three  stages.  First, 
careful  consideration,  with  one's  own  common  sense, 
of  what  God  wants  us  to  do — 'Assuredly  gathering 
that  the  Lord  had  called  us.'  Then,  let  no  grass  grow 
under  our  feet — immediate  obedience — 'Straightway 
we  endeavoured  to  go  into  Macedonia.'  And  then, 
patient  pondering  and  instantaneous  submission  get 
the  reward — '  We  came  with  a  straight  course.'  He 
gave  the  winds  and  the  waves  charge  concerning  them. 
Now  there  are  three  lessons  for  us.  Taken  together, 
they  are  patterns  of  what  ought  to  be  in  our  experience, 
and  will  be,  if  the  conditions  are  complied  with. 

I.  First,  Careful  Consideration. 

Paul  had  no  doubt  that  what  he  saw  was  a  vision 
from  Christ,  and  not  a  mere  dream  of  the  night,  born 
of  the  reverberation  of  waking  thoughts  and  anxieties, 
that  took  the  shape  of  the  plaintive  cry  of  the  man  of 
Macedonia.  But  then  the  next  step  was  to  be  quite 
sure  of  what  the  vision  meant.  And  so,  wisely,  he  does 
not  make  up  his  mind  himself,  but  calls  in  the  three 
men  who  were  with  him.  And  what  a  significant  little 
group  it  was  !  There  were  Timothy,  Silas,  and  Luke — 
Silas,  from  Jerusalem ;  Timothy,  half  a  Gentile ;  Luke, 
altogether  a  Gentile;  and  Paul  himself— and  these 
four  shook  the  world.  They  come  together,  and  they 
talk  the  matter  over.  The  word  of  my  text  rendered 
•  assuredly  gathering'  is  a  picturesque  one.  It  literally 
means  '  laying  things  together.'  They  set  various  facts 
side   by    side,  or  as  we  say  in  our  colloquial  idiom, 


vs.  10, 11]     A  PROSPEROUS  VOYAGE  99 

•They  put  this  and  that  together,'  and  so  they  came 
to  understand  what  the  vision  meant. 

What  had  they  to  help  them  to  understand  it? 
Well,  they  had  this  fact,  that  in  all  the  former  part  of 
their  journey  they  had  been  met  by  hindrances ;  that 
their  path  had  been  hedged  up  here,  there,  and  every- 
w^here.  Paul  set  out  from  Antioch,  meaning  a  quiet 
little  tour  of  visitation  amongst  the  churches  that  had 
been  already  established.  Jesus  Christ  meant  Philippi 
and  Athens  and  Corinth  and  Ephesus,  before  Paul 
got  back  again.  So  we  read  in  an  earlier  portion  of 
the  chapter  that  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  forbade  them  to 
speak  the  Word  in  one  region,  and  checked  and  hin- 
dered them  when,  baffled,  they  tried  to  go  to  another. 
There  then  remained  only  one  other  road  open  to 
them,  and  that  led  to  the  coast.  Thus  putting  together 
their  hindrances  and  their  stimuluses,  they  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  unitedly  the  two  said  plainly,  'Go 
across  the  sea,  and  preach  the  word  there.' 

Now  it  is  a  very  commonplace  and  homely  piece  of 
teaching  to  remind  you  that  time  is  not  wasted  in 
making  quite  sure  of  the  meaning  of  providences 
which  seem  to  declare  the  will  of  God,  before  we  begin 
to  act.  But  the  commonest  duties  are  very  often 
neglected ;  and  we  preachers,  I  think,  would  very  often 
do  more  good  by  hammering  at  commonplace  themes 
than  by  bringing  out  original  and  fresh  ones.  And  so 
I  venture  to  say  a  word  about  the  immense  importance 
to  Christian  life  and  Christian  service  of  this  pre- 
liminary step  — '  assuredly  gathering  that  the  Lord 
had  called  us.'  What  have  we  to  do  in  order  to  be 
quite  sure  of  God's  intention  for  us  ? 

Well,  the  first  thing  seems  to  me  to  make  q^iite  sure 
that  we  want  to  know  it,  and  that  we  do  not  want  to 


100  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

force  our  intentions  upon  Him,  and  then  to  plume 
ourselves  upon  being  obedient  to  His  call,  when  we 
are  only  doing  what  we  like.  There  is  a  vast  deal  of 
unconscious  insincerity  in  us  all ;  and  especially  in 
regard  to  Christian  work  there  is  an  enormous  amount 
of  it.  People  will  say,  *  Oh,  I  have  such  a  strong 
impulse  in  a  given  direction,  to  do  certain  kinds  of 
Christian  service,  that  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  God's 
will.'  How  are  you  sure  ?  A  strong  impulse  may  be  a 
temptation  from  the  devil  as  well  as  a  call  from  God. 
And  men  who  simply  act  on  untested  impulses,  even 
the  most  benevolent  which  spring  directly  from  large 
Christian  principles,  may  be  making  deplorable  mis- 
takes. It  is  not  enough  to  have  pure  motives.  It  is 
useless  to  say,  '  Such  and  such  a  course  of  action  is 
clearly  the  result  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.'  That 
may  be  all  perfectly  true,  and  yet  the  course  may  not 
be  the  course  for  you.  For  there  may  be  practical 
considerations,  which  do  not  come  into  our  view  unless 
we  carefully  think  about  them,  which  forbid  us  to  take 
such  a  path.  So  remember  that  strong  impulses  are 
not  guiding  lights;  nor  is  it  enough  to  vindicate  our 
pursuing  some  mode  of  Christian  service  that  it  is  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel.  *  Circum- 
stances alter  cases '  is  a  very  homely  old  saying ;  but 
if  Christian  people  would  only  bring  the  common  sense 
to  bear  upon  their  religious  life  which  they  need  to 
bring  to  bear  upon  their  business  life,  unless  they  are 
^oing  into  the  Gazette,  there  would  be  less  waste  work 
in  the  Christian  Church  than  there  is  to-day.  I  do 
not  want  less  zeal ;  I  want  that  the  reins  of  the  fiery 
steed  chall  be  kept  well  in  hand.  The  difference  be- 
tween a  fanatic,  who  is  a  fool,  and  an  enthusiast,  who 
is  a  wise  .iian,  is  that  the  one  brings  calm  reason  to 


vs.  10, 11]    A  PROSPEROUS  VOYAGE         101 

bear,  and  an  open-eyed  consideration  of  circumstances 
all  round ;  and  the  other  sees  but  one  thing  at  a  time, 
and  shuts  his  eyes,  like  a  bull  in  a  field,  and  charges  at 
that.  So  let  us  be  sure,  to  begin  with,  that  we  want 
to  know  what  God  wants  us  to  do ;  and  that  we  are 
not  palming  our  wishes  upon  Him,  and  calling  them 
His  providences. 

Then  there  is  another  plain,  practical  consideration 
that  comes  out  of  this  story,  and  that  is,  Do  not  be 
above  being  taught  by  failures  and  hindrances.  You 
know  the  old  proverb,  '  It  is  waste  time  to  flog  a  dead 
horse.'  There  is  not  a  little  well-meant  work  flung 
away,  because  it  is  expended  on  obviously  hopeless 
efforts  to  revivify,  perhaps,  some  moribund  thing  or 
to  continue,  perhaps,  in  some  old,  well-worn  rut,  in- 
stead of  striking  out  into  a  new  path.  Paul  was  full  of 
enthusiasm  for  the  evangelisation  of  Asia  Minor,  and 
he  might  have  said  a  great  deal  about  the  importance 
of  going  to  Ephesus.  He  tried  to  do  it,  but  Christ 
said  '  No,'  and  Paul  did  not  knock  his  head  against  the 
stone  wall  that  lay  between  him  and  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  purpose,  but  he  gave  it  up  and  tried 
another  tack.  He  next  wished  to  go  up  into  Bithynia, 
and  he  might  have  said  a  great  deal  about  the  needs 
of  the  people  by  the  Euxine ;  but  again  down  came 
the  barrier,  and  he  had  once  more  to  learn  the  lesson, 
'Not  as  thou  wilt,  but  as  I  will.'  He  was  not  above 
being  taught  by  his  failures.  Some  of  us  are ;  and  it 
is  very  difficult,  and  needs  a  great  deal  of  Christian 
wisdom  and  unselfishness,  to  distinguish  between  hin- 
drances in  the  way  of  work  which  are  meant  to  evoke 
larger  efforts,  and  hindrances  which  are  meant  to 
say,  'Try  another  path,  and  do  not  waste  time  here 
any  longer.* 


102  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xvi. 

But  if  we  wish  supremely  to  know  God's  will,  He 
will  help  us  to  distinguish  between  these  two  kinds  of 
difficulties.  Some  one  has  said,  '  Difficulties  are  things 
to  be  overcome.'  Yes,  but  not  always.  They  very 
often  are,  and  we  should  thank  God  for  them  then; 
but  they  sometimes  are  God's  warnings  to  us  to  go  by 
another  road.  So  we  need  discretion,  and  patience, 
and  suspense  of  judgment  to  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  all  our  purposes  and  plans. 

Then,  of  course,  I  need  not  remind  you  that  the  way 
to  get  light  is  to  seek  it  in  the  Book  and  in  communion 
with  Him  whom  the  Book  reveals  to  us  as  the  true 
Word  of  God :  '  He  that  followeth  Me  shall  not  walk 
in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life.'  So  care- 
ful consideration  is  a  preliminary  to  all  good  Christian 
work.  And,  if  you  can,  talk  to  some  Timothy  and 
Silas  and  Luke  about  your  course,  and  do  not  be  above 
taking  a  brother's  advice. 

II.  The  next  step  is  Immediate  Submission. 

When  they  had  assuredly  gathered  that  the  Lord 
had  called  them,  'immediately' — there  is  great  virtue 
in  that  one  word  —  '  we  endeavoured  to  go  into 
Macedonia.'  Delayed  obedience  is  the  brother — and, 
if  I  may  mingle  metaphors,  sometimes  the  father — of 
disobedience.  It  sometimes  means  simple  feebleness 
of  conviction,  indolence,  and  a  general  lack  of  fervour. 
It  means  very  often  a  reluctance  to  do  the  duty  that 
lies  plainly  before  us.  And,  dear  brethren,  as  I  have 
said  about  the  former  lesson,  so  I  say  about  this.  The 
homely  virtue,  which  we  all  know  to  be  indispensable 
to  success  in  common  daily  life  and  commercial  under- 
takings, is  no  less  indispensable  to  all  vigour  of 
Christian  life  and  to  all  nobleness  of  Christian  service. 
We  have  no  hours  to  waste;  the  time  is  short.     In 


vs.  10, 11]    A  PROSPEROUS  VOYAGE         103 

the  harvest-field,  especially  when  it  is  getting  near 
the  end  of  the  week,  and  the  Sunday  is  at  hand,  there 
are  little  leisure  and  little  tolerance  of  slow  workers. 
And  for  us  the  fields  are  white,  the  labourers  are  few, 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  is  imperative,  the  sun  is 
hurrying  to  the  west,  and  the  sickles  will  have  to 
be  laid  down  before  long.  So,  '  immediately  we  en- 
deavoured.' 

Delayed  duty  is  present  discomfort.  As  long  as  a 
man  has  a  conscience,  so  long  will  he  be  restless  and 
uneasy  until  he  has,  as  the  Quakers  say,  '  cleared  him- 
self of  his  burden,'  and  done  what  he  knows  that  he 
ought  to  do,  and  got  done  with  it.  Delayed  obedience 
means  wasted  possibilities  of  service,  and  so  is  ever  to 
be  avoided.  The  more  disagreeable  anything  is  which 
is  plainly  a  duty,  the  more  reason  there  is  for  doing 
it  right  away.  '  I  made  haste,  and  delayed  not,  but 
made  haste  to  keep  Thy  commandments.' 

Did  you  ever  count  how  many  '  straightway s '  there 
are  in  the  first  chapter  of  Mark's  Gospel?  If  you  have 
not,  will  you  do  it  when  you  go  home;  and  notice 
how  they  come  in  ?  In  the  story  of  Christ's  opening 
ministry  every  fresh  incident  is  tacked  on  to  the  one 
before  it,  in  that  chapter,  by  that  same  word  '  straight- 
way.' *  Straightway '  He  does  that ;  *  anon '  He  does 
this;  'immediately'  He  does  the  other  thing.  All  is 
one  continuous  stream  of  acts  of  service.  The  Gospel 
of  Mark  is  the  Gospel  of  the  servant,  and  it  sets  forth 
the  pattern  to  which  all  Christian  service  ought  to  be 
conformed. 

So  if  we  take  Jesus  Christ  for  our  Example,  unhast- 
ing  and  unresting  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  we  shall 
let  no  moment  pass  burdened  with  undischarged  duty ; 
and    we   shall  find    that    all   the    moments    are    few 


104  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

enough  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties  incumbent 
upon  us. 

III.  So,  lastly,  careful  consideration  and  unhesitating 
obedience  lead  to  a  Straight  Course. 

Well,  it  is  not  so  always,  but  it  is  so  generally.  There 
is  a  wonderful  power  in  diligent  doing  of  God's  known 
will  to  smooth  away  difficulties  and  avoid  troubles. 
I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  a  man  who  thus  lives, 
patiently  ascertaining  and  then  promptly  doing  what 
God  would  have  him  do,  has  any  miraculous  exemption 
from  the  ordinary  sorrows  and  trials  of  life.  But  sure 
I  am  that  a  very,  very  large  proportion  of  all  the 
hindrances  and  disappointments,  storms  and  quick- 
sands, calms  which  prevent  progress  and  headwinds 
that  beat  in  our  faces,  are  directly  the  products  of  our 
negligence  in  one  or  other  of  these  two  respects,  and 
that  although  by  no  means  absolutely,  yet  to  an  extent 
that  we  should  not  believe  if  we  had  not  the  experience 
of  it,  the  wish  to  do  God's  will  and  the  doing  of  it 
with  our  might  when  we  know  what  it  is  have  a 
talismanic  power  in  calming  the  seas  and  bringing  us 
to  the  desired  haven. 

But  though  this  is  not  always  absolutely  true  in 
regard  of  outward  things,  it  is,  without  exception  or 
limitation,  true  in  regard  of  the  inward  life.  For  if 
my  supreme  will  is  to  do  God's  will  then  nothing 
which  is  His  will,  and  comes  to  me  because  it  is  can 
be  a  hindrance  in  my  doing  that. 

As  an  old  proverb  says,  'Travelling  merchants  can 
never  be  out  of  their  road.'  And  a  Christian  man 
whose  path  is  simple  obedience  to  the  will  of  God  can 
never  be  turned  from  that  path  by  whatever  hin- 
drances may  aifect  his  outward  life.  So,  in  deepest 
truth,  there  is  always  a  calm  voyage  for  the  men 


vs.  10,11]  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI  105 

whose  eyes  are  open  to  discern,  and  whose  hands  are 
swift  to  fulfil,  the  commandments  of  their  Father  in 
heaven.  For  them  all  winds  blow  them  to  their  port ; 
for  them  '  all  things  work  together  for  good ' ;  with 
them  God's  servants  who  hearken  to  the  voice  of  His 
commandments,  and  are  His  ministers  to  do  His 
pleasure,  can  never  be  other  than  in  amity  and  alliance. 
He  who  is  God's  servant  is  the  world's  master.  'AH 
things  are  yours  if  ye  are  Christ's.' 

So,  brethren,  careful  study  of  providences  and 
visions,  of  hindrances  and  stimulus,  careful  setting 
of  our  lives  side  by  side  with  the  Master's,  and  a 
swift  delight  in  doing  the  will  of  the  Lord,  will 
secure  for  us,  in  inmost  truth,  a  prosperous  voyage, 
till  all  storms  are  hushed,  '  and  they  are  glad  because 
they  be  quiet;  so  He  bringeth  them  to  their  desired 
haven.' 


PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI 

'And  on  the  sabbath  day  we  went  forth  without  the  gate,  by  a  river  side, 
where  we  supposed  there  wa^!  a  place  of  prayer ;  and  we  sat  down,  and  spake  unto 
the  women  which  were  come  together.'— Acts  xvi.  13  (R.V.). 

.  This  is  the  first  record  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
in  Europe,  and  probably  the  first  instance  of  it.  The 
fact  that  the  vision  of  the  man  of  Macedonia  was 
needed  in  order  to  draw  the  Apostle  across  the  straits 
into  Macedonia,  and  the  great  length  at  which  the 
incidents  at  Philippi  are  recorded,  make  this  probable. 
If  so,  we  are  here  standing,  as  it  were,  at  the  well- 
head of  a  mighty  river,  and  the  thin  stream  of  water 
assumes  importance  when  we  remember  the  thousand 
miles  of  its  course,  and  the  league-broad  estuary  in  which 
it  pours  itself  into  the  ocean.    Here  is  the  beginning ; 


106  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xvi. 

the  Europe  of  to-day  is  what  came  out  of  it.  There  is 
no  sign  whatever  that  the  Apostle  was  conscious  of  an 
epoch  in  this  transference  of  the  sphere  of  his  opera- 
tions, but  we  can  scarcely  help  being  conscious  of  such. 

And  so,  looking  at  the  words  of  my  text,  and  seeing 
here  how  unobtrusively  there  stole  into  the  progressive 
part  of  the  world  the  power  which  was  to  shatter  and 
remould  all  its  institutions,  to  guide  and  inform  the 
onward  march  of  its  peoples,  to  be  the  basis  of  their 
liberties,  and  the  starting-point  of  their  literature,  we 
can  scarcely  avoid  drawing  lessons  of  importance. 

The  first  point  which  I  would  suggest,  as  picturesquely 
enforced  for  us  by  this  incident,  is — 

I.  The  apparent  insignificance  and  real  greatness  of 
Christian  work. 

There  did  not  seem  in  the  whole  of  that  great  city 
that  morning  a  more  completely  insignificant  knot  of 
people  than  the  little  weather-beaten  Jew,  travel- 
stained,  of  weak  bodily  presence,  and  of  contemptible 
speech,  with  the  handful  of  his  attendants,  who  slipped 
out  in  the  early  morning  and  wended  their  way  to  the 
quiet  little  oratory,  beneath  the  blue  sky,  by  the  side 
of  the  rushing  stream,  and  there  talked  informally  and 
familiarly  to  the  handful  of  women.  The  great  men 
of  Philippi  would  have  stared  if  any  one  had  said  to 
them,  '  You  will  be  forgotten,  but  two  of  these  women 
will  have  their  names  embalmed  in  the  memory  of 
the  world  for  ever.  Everybody  will  know  Euodia  and 
Syntyche.  Your  city  will  be  forgotten,  although  a  battle 
that  settled  the  fate  of  the  civilised  world  was  fought 
outside  your  gates.  But  that  little  Jew  and  the  letter 
that  he  will  write  to  that  handful  of  believers  that 
are  to  be  gathered  by  his  preaching  will  last  for  ever.' 
The  mightiest  thing  done  in  Europe  that  morning  was 


V.13]  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI  107 

when  the  Apostle  sat  down  by  the  riverside,  'and 
spake  to  the  women  which  resorted  thither.' 

The  very  same  vulgar  mistake  as  to  what  is  great 
and  as  to  what  is  small  is  being  repeated  over  and 
over  again;  and  we  are  all  tempted  to  it  by  that 
which  is  worldly  and  vulgar  in  ourselves,  to  the 
enormous  detriment  of  the  best  part  of  our  natures. 
So  it  is  worth  while  to  stop  for  a  moment  and  ask 
what  is  the  criterion  of  greatness  in  our  deeds?  I 
answer,  three  things — their  motive,  their  sphere,  their 
consequences.  What  is  done  for  God  is  always  great. 
You  take  a  pebble  and  drop  it  into  a  brook,  and  imme- 
diately the  dull  colouring  upon  it  flashes  up  into  beauty 
when  the  sunlight  strikes  through  the  ripples,  and  the 
magnitude  of  the  little  stone  is  enlarged.  If  I  may 
make  use  of  such  a  violent  expression,  drop  your  deeds 
into  God,  and  they  will  all  be  great,  however  small 
they  are.  Keep  them  apart  from  Him,  and  they  will 
be  small,  though  all  the  drums  of  the  world  beat  in 
celebration,  and  all  the  vulgar  people  on  the  earth  extol 
their  magnitude.  This  altar  magnifies  and  sanctifies 
the  giver  and  the  gift.  The  great  things  are  the 
things  that  are  done  for  God. 

A  deed  is  great  according  to  its  sphere.  What 
bears  on  and  is  confined  to  material  things  is  smaller 
than  what  affects  the  understanding.  The  teacher  is 
more  than  the  man  who  promotes  material  good.  And 
on  the  very  same  principle,  above  both  the  one  and 
the  other,  is  the  doer  of  deeds  which  touch  the  diviner 
part  of  a  man's  nature,  his  will,  his  conscience,  his 
affections,  his  relations  to  God.  Thus  the  deeds  that 
impinge  upon  these  are  the  highest  and  the  greatest ; 
and  far  above  the  scientific  inventor,  and  far  above 
the  mere  teacher,   as  I  believe,  and  as  I  hope  you 


108  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

believe,  stands  the  humblest  work  of  the  poorest 
Christian  who  seeks  to  draw  any  other  soul  into  the 
light  and  liberty  which  he  himself  possesses.  The 
greatest  thing  in  the  world  is  charity,  and  the  purest 
charity  in  the  world  is  that  which  helps  a  man  to 
possess  the  basis  and  mother-tincture  of  all  love,  the 
love  towards  God  who  has  first  loved  us,  in  the  person 
and  the  work  of  His  dear  Son. 

That  which  being  done  has  consequences  that  roll 
through  souls,  'and  grow  for  ever  and  for  ever,'  is  a 
greater  work  than  the  deed  whose  issues  are  more 
short-lived.  And  so  the  man  who  speaks  a  word  which 
may  deflect  a  soul  into  the  paths  which  have  no  end 
until  they  are  swallowed  up  in  the  light  of  the  God 
who  '  is  a  Sun,'  is  a  worker  whose  work  is  truly  great. , 
Brethren,  it  concerns  the  nobleness  of  the  life  of  us 
Christian  people  far  more  closely  than  we  sometimes 
suppose,  that  we  should  purge  our  souls  from  the  false 
estimate  of  magnitudes  which  prevails  so  extensively 
in  the  world's  judgment  of  men  and  their  doings.  And 
though  it  is  no  worthy  motive  for  a  man  to  seek  to  live  so 
that  he  may  do  great  things,  it  is  a  part  of  the  discipline 
of  the  Christian  mind,  as  well  as  heart,  that  we  should 
be  able  to  reduce  the  swollen  bladders  to  their  true 
flaccidity  and  insignificance,  and  that  we  should  under- 
stand that  things  done  for  God,  things  done  on  men's 
souls,  things  done  with  consequences  which  time  will 
not  exhaust,  nor  eternity  put  a  period  to,  are,  after  all, 
the  great  things  of  human  life. 

Ah,  there  will  be  a  wonderful  reversal  of  judgments 
one  day!  Names  that  now  fill  the  trumpet  of  fame 
will  fall  silent.  Pages  that  now  are  read  as  if  they 
were  leaves  of  the  '  Book  of  Life '  will  be  obliterated  and 
unknown,  and  when  all  the  flashing  cressets  in  Vanity 


V.13]  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI  109 

Fair  have  smoked  and  stunk  themselves  out,  'They 
that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment, and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as 
the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.'  The  great  things  are  the 
Christian  things,  and  there  was  no  greater  deed  done 
that  day,  on  this  round  earth,  than  when  that  Jewish 
wayfarer,  travel-stained  and  insignificant,  sat  himself 
down  in  the  place  of  prayer,  and  'spake  unto  the 
women  which  resorted  thither.'  Do  not  be  over-cowed 
by  the  loud  talk  of  the  world,  but  understand  that 
Christian  work  is  the  mightiest  work  that  a  man  can  do. 

Let  us  take  from  this  incident  a  hint  as  to — 

II.  The  law  of  growth  in  Christ's  Kingdom. 

Here,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  thin  thread  of  water  at 
the  source.  We  to-day  are  on  the  broad  bosom  of  the 
expanded  stream.  Here  is  the  little  beginning;  the 
world  that  we  see  around  us  has  come  from  this,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  more  to  be  done  yet  before  all 
the  power  that  was  transported  into  Europe,  on  that 
Sabbath  morning,  has  wrought  its  legitimate  effects. 
That  is  to  say,  'the  Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  by 
observation.'  Let  me  say  a  word,  and  only  a  word, 
based  on  this  incident,  about  the  law  of  small  beginnings 
and  the  law  of  slow,  inconspicuous  development. 

We  have  here  an  instance  of  the  law  of  small,  silent 
beginnings.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  highest  example 
of  everything  that  is  good ;  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 
A  cradle  at  Bethlehem,  a  carpenter's  shop  in  Nazareth, 
thirty  years  buried  in  a  village,  two  or  three  years,  at 
most,  going  up  and  down  quietly  in  a  remote  nook  of 
the  earth,  and  then  He  passed  away  silently  and  the 
world  did  not  know  Him.  'He  shall  not  strive  nor 
cry,  nor  cause  His  voice  to  be  heard  in  the  streets.' 
And  as  the  Christ  so  His  Church,  and  so  His  Gospel, 


no  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

and  so  all  good  movements  that  begin  from  Him.  De- 
structive preparations  may  be  noisy;  they  generally 
are.  Constructive  beginnings  are  silent  and  small.  If 
a  thing  is  launched  with  a  great  beating  of  drums  and 
blowing  of  trumpets,  you  may  be  pretty  sure  there  is 
very  little  in  it.  Drums  are  hollow,  or  they  would  not 
make  such  a  noise.  Trumpets  only  catch  and  give 
forth  wind.  They  say — I  know  not  whether  it  is  true 
— that  the  Wellingtonia  gigantea,  the  greatest  of  forest 
trees,  has  a  smaller  seed  than  any  of  its  congeners.  It 
may  be  so,  at  any  rate  it  does  for  an  illustration.  The 
germ-cell  is  always  microscopic.  A  little  beginning  is 
a  prophecy  of  a  great  ending. 

In  like  manner  there  is  another  large  principle 
suggested  here  which,  in  these  days  of  impatient 
haste  and  rushing  to  and  fro,  and  religious  as  well  as 
secular  advertising  and  standing  at  street  corners,  we 
are  very  apt  to  forget,  but  which  we  need  to  remember, 
and  that  is  that  the  rate  of  growth  is  swift  when  the 
duration  of  existence  is  short.  A  reed  springs  up  in 
a  night.  How  long  does  an  oak  take  before  it  gets 
too  high  for  a  sheep  to  crop  at?  The  moth  lives  its 
full  life  in  a  day.  There  is  no  creature  that  has  help- 
less infancy  so  long  as  a  man.  We  have  the  slow  work 
of  mining;  the  dynamite  will  be  put  into  the  hole 
one  day,  and  the  spark  applied— and  then?  So  'an 
inheritance  may  be  gotten  hastily  at  the  beginning, 
but  the  end  thereof  shall  not  be  blessed.' 

Let  us  apply  that  to  our  own  personal  life  and 
work,  and  to  the  growth  of  Christianity  in  the  world, 
and  let  us  not  be  staggered  because  either  are  so  slow. 
•The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  His  promises,  as 
some  men  count  slackness.  One  day  is  with  the  Lord 
as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.' 


V.13]  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI  111 

How  long  will  that  day  be  of  which  a  thousand  years 
are  but  as  the  morning  twilight  ?  Brethren,  you  have 
need  of  patience.  You  Christian  workers,  and  I  hope 
I  am  speaking  to  a  great  many  such  now;  how  long 
does  it  take  before  we  can  say  that  we  are  making 
any  impression  at  all  on  the  vast  masses  of  evil  and 
sin  that  are  round  about  us?  God  waited,  nobody 
knows  how  many  millenniums  and  more  than  millen- 
niums, before  He  had  the  world  ready  for  man.  He 
waited  for  more  years  than  we  can  tell  before  He  had 
the  world  ready  for  the  Incarnation.  His  march  is 
very  slow  because  it  is  ever  onwards.  Let  us  be 
thankful  if  we  forge  ahead  the  least  little  bit;  and 
let  us  not  be  impatient  for  swift  results  which  are 
the  fool's  paradise,  and  which  the  man  who  knows 
that  he  is  working  towards  God's  own  end  can  well 
afford  to  do  without. 

And  now,  lastly,  let  me  ask  you  to  notice,  still  further 
as  drawn  from  this  incident — 

III.  The  simplicity  of  the  forces  to  which  God  en- 
trusts the  growth  of  His  Kingdom. 

It  is  almost  ludicrous  to  think,  if  it  were  not  pathetic 
and  sublime,  of  the  disproportion  between  the  end  that 
was  aimed  at  and  the  way  that  was  taken  to  reach 
it,  which  the  text  opens  before  us.  'We  went  out 
to  the  riverside,  and  we  spake  unto  the  women  which 
resorted  thither.'  That  was  all.  Think  of  Europe  as 
it  was  at  that  time.  There  was  Greece  over  the  hills, 
there  was  Rome  ubiquitous  and  ready  to  exchange  its 
contemptuous  toleration  for  active  hostility.  There 
was  the  unknown  barbarism  of  the  vague  lands  beyond. 
Think  of  the  established  idolatries  which  these  men 
had  to  meet,  around  which  had  gathered,  by  the  super- 
stitious  awe    of    untold    ages,    everything    that    was 


112  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

obstinate,  everything  that  was  menacing,  everything 
that  was  venerable.  Think  of  the  subtleties  to  which 
they  had  to  oppose  their  unlettered  message.  Think 
of  the  moral  corruption  that  was  eating  like  an  ulcer 
into  the  very  heart  of  society.  Did  ever  a  Cortez  on 
the  beach,  with  his  ships  in  flames  behind  him,  and 
a  continent  in  arms  before,  cast  himself  on  a  more 
desperate  venture  ?  And  they  conquered !  How  ? 
What  were  the  small  stones  from  the  brook  that  slew 
Goliath?  Have  we  got  them?  Here  they  are,  the 
message  that  they  spoke,  the  white  heat  of  earnestness 
with  which  they  spoke  it,  and  the  divine  Helper  who 
backed  them  up.  And  we  have  this  message.  Brethren, 
that  old  word, '  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
to  Himself,'  is  as  much  needed,  as  potent,  as  truly 
adapted  to  the  complicated  civilisation  of  this  genera- 
tion, as  surely  reaching  the  deepest  wants  of  the  human 
soul,  as  it  was  in  the  days  when  first,  the  message 
poured,  like  a  red-hot  lava  flood,  from  the  utterances 
of  Paul.  Like  lava  it  has  gone  cold  to-day,  and  stiff 
in  many  places,  and  all  the  heat  is  out  of  it.  That  is 
the  fault  of  the  speaker,  never  of  the  message.  It  is 
as  mighty  as  ever  it  was,  and  if  the  Christian  Church 
would  keep  more  closely  to  it,  and  would  realise  more 
fully  that  the  Cross  does  not  need  to  be  propped  up 
so  much  as  to  be  proclaimed,  I  think  we  should  see 
that  it  is  so.  That  sword  has  not  lost  its  temper, 
and  modern  modes  of  warfare  have  not  antiquated  it. 
As  David  said  to  the  high  priests  at  Nob,  when  he 
was  told  that  Goliath's  sword  was  hid  behind  the 
ephod,  'Give  me  that.  There  is  none  like  it.'  It  was 
not  miracles,  it  was  the  Gospel  that  was  preached, 
which  was  *  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.' 
And  that  message  was  preached  with  earnestness. 


V.13]  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI  113 

There  is  one  point  in  which  every  successful  servant 
of  Jesus  Christ  who  has  done  work  for  Him,  winning 
men  to  Him,  has  been  hke  every  other  successful 
servant,  and  there  is  only  one  point.  Some  of  them 
have  been  wise  men,  some  of  them  have  been  foolish. 
Some  of  them  have  been  clad  with  many  puerile  notions 
and  much  rubbish  of  ceremonial  and  sacerdotal  theories. 
Some  of  them  have  been  high  Calvinists,  some  of  them 
low  Arminians;  some  of  them  have  been  scholars, 
some  of  them  could  hardly  read.  But  they  have  all 
had  this  one  thing :  they  believed  with  all  their  hearts 
what  they  spake.  They  fulfilled  the  Horatian  principle, 
'If  you  wish  me  to  weep,  your  own  eyes  must  over- 
flow ' — and  if  you  wish  me  to  believe,  you  must  speak, 
not  *  with  bated  breath  and  whispering  humbleness,'  but 
as  if  you  yourself  believed  it,  and  were  dead  set  on 
getting  other  people  to  believe  it,  too. 

And  then  the  third  thing  that  Paul  had  we  have, 
and  that  is  the  presence  of  the  Christ.  Note  what 
it  says  in  the  context  about  one  convert  who  was 
made  that  morning,  Lydia,  'whose  heart  the  Lord 
opened.'  Now  I  am  not  going  to  deduce  Calvinism 
or  any  other  *  ism '  from  these  words,  but  I  pray  you 
to  note  that  there  is  emerging  on  the  surface  here 
what  runs  all  through  this  book  of  Acts,  and  animates 
the  whole  of  it,  viz.,  that  Jesus  Christ  Himself  is 
working,  doing  all  the  work  that  is  done  through  His 
servants.  Wherever  there  are  men  aflame  with  that 
with  which  every  Christian  man  and  woman  should  be 
aflame,  the  consciousness  of  the  preciousness  of  their 
Master,  and  their  own  responsibility  for  the  spreading 
of  His  Name,  there,  depend  upon  it,  will  be  the  Christ 
to  aid  them.  The  picture  with  which  one  of  the 
Evangelists  closes  his  Gospel  will  be  repeated:  'They 

VOL.  II.  H 


114  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xvi. 

went  everywhere  preaching  the  word,  the  Lord  also 
working  with  them,  and  confirming  the  word  with 
signs  following.' 

Dear  brethren,  the  vision  of  the  man  of  Macedonia 
which  drew  Paul  across  the  water  from  Troas  to  Philippi 
speaks  to  us.  'Come  over  and  help  us,'  comes  from 
many  voices.  And  if  we,  in  however  humble  and  ob- 
scure, and  as  the  foolish  purblind  world  calls  it, '  small,' 
way,  yield  to  the  invitation,  and  try  to  do  what  in  us 
lies,  then  we  shall  find  that,  like  Paul  by  the  riverside 
in  that  oratory,  we  are  building  better  than  we  know, 
and  planting  a  little  seed,  the  springing  whereof  God 
will  bless.  *  Thou  sowest  not  that  which  shall  be,  but 
bare  grain  .  .  .  and  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath 
pleased  Him.' 


THE  RIOT  AT  PHILIPPI 

'And  when  her  masters  saw  that  the  hope  of  their  gains  was  gone,  they  caught 
Paul  and  Silas,  and  drew  them  into  the  marketplace  unto  the  rulers,  20.  And 
brought  them  to  the  magistrates,  saying.  These  men,  being  Jews,  do  exceedingly 
trouble  our  city,  21.  And  teach  customs,  which  are  not  lawful  for  us  to  receive, 
neither  to  observe,  being  Romans.  22.  And  the  multitude  rose  up  together  against 
them  :  and  the  magistrates  rent  off  their  clothes,  and  commanded  to  beat  them. 
23.  And  when  they  had  laid  many  stripes  upon  them,  they  cast  them  into  prison, 
charging  the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely :  24.  Who,  having  received  such  a  charge, 
thrust  them  into  the  inner  prison,  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks.  25.  And 
at  midnight  Paxil  and  Silas  prayed,  and  sang  praises  unto  God :  and  the  prisoners 
heard  them.  26.  And  suddenly  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  so  that  the  founda- 
tions of  the  prison  were  shaken  :  and  immediately  all  the  doors  were  opened,  and 
every  one's  bands  were  loosed.  27.  And  the  keeper  of  the  prison  awaking  out  of 
his  sleep,  and  seeing  the  prison  doors  open,  he  drew  out  his  sword,  and  would  havo 
killed  himself,  supposing  that  the  prisoners  had  been  fled.  28.  But  Paul  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  saying.  Do  thyself  no  harm :  for  we  are  all  here.  29.  Then  he  called 
for  a  light,  and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down  before  Paul  and 
Silas,  30.  And  brought  them  out,  and  said.  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved? 
31.  And  they  said,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and 
thy  house.  32.  And  they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that 
were  in  his  house.  33.  And  he  took  them  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed 
their  stripes;  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  straightway.  34.  And  when  he 
had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  set  meat  before  them,  and  reooiced,  believing 
in  God  with  all  his  house.'— Acts  xvi.  19-34. 

This  incident  gives  us  the  Apostle's  first  experience  of 
purely  Gentile  opposition.      The  whole  scene   has  a 


vs.  19-34]     THE  RIOT  AT  PHILIPPI  115 

different  stamp  from  that  of  former  antagonisms,  and 
reminds  us  that  we  have  passed  into  Europe.  The 
accusers  and  the  grounds  of  accusation  are  new.  For- 
merly Jews  had  led  the  attack ;  now  Gentiles  do  so. 
Crimes  against  religion  were  charged  before;  now 
crimes  against  law  and  order.  Hence  the  narrative  is 
more  extended,  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  habit 
of  the  book,  to  dilate  on  the  first  of  a  series  and  to 
summarise  subsequent  members  of  it.  We  may  note 
the  unfounded  charge  and  unjust  sentence ;  the  joyful 
confessors  and  the  answer  to  their  trust;  the  great 
light  that  shone  on  the  jailer's  darkness. 

I.  This  was  a  rough  beginning  of  the  work  undertaken 
at  the  call  of  Christ.  Less  courageous  and  faithful 
men  might  have  thought, '  Were  we  right  in  •'  assuredly 
gathering  "  that  His  hand  pointed  us  hither,  since  this 
is  the  reception  we  find  ? '  But  though  the  wind  meets 
us  as  soon  as  we  clear  the  harbour,  the  salt  spray  dash- 
ing in  our  faces  is  no  sign  that  we  should  not  have  left 
shelter.  A  difficult  beginning  often  means  a  prosperous 
course ;  and  hardships  are  not  tokens  of  having  made 
a  mistake. 

The  root  of  the  first  antagonism  to  the  Gospel 
in  Europe  was  purely  mercenary.  The  pythoness's 
masters  had  no  horror  of  Paul's  doctrines.  They  were 
animated  by  no  zeal  for  Apollo.  They  only  saw  a 
source  of  profit  drying  up.  Infinitely  more  respectable 
was  Jewish  opposition,  which  was,  at  all  events,  the 
perverted  working  of  noble  sentiments.  Zeal  for 
religion,  even  when  the  zeal  is  impure  and  the  notions 
of  religion  imperfect,  is  higher  than  mere  anger  at 
pecuniary  loss.  How  much  of  the  opposition  since  and 
to-day  comes  from  the  same  mean  source !  Lust  and 
appetite    organise    profitable    trades,    in    which    '  the 


116  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

money  has  no  smell,'  however  foul  the  cesspool  from 
which  it  has  been  brought.  And  when  Christian  people 
set  themselves  against  these  abominations,  capital 
takes  the  command  of  the  mob  of  drink-sellers  and 
consumers,  or  of  those  from  haunts  of  fleshly  sin,  and 
shrieks  about  interfering  with  honest  industry,  and 
seeking  to  enforce  sour-faced  Puritanism  on  society. 
The  Church  may  be  very  sure  that  it  is  failing  in  some 
part  of  its  duty,  if  there  is  no  class  of  those  who  fatten 
on  providing  for  sin  howling  at  its  heels,  because  it  is 
interfering  with  the  hope  of  their  gains. 

The  charge  against  the  little  group  took  no  heed  of 
the  real  character  of  their  message.  It  artfully  put 
prominent  their  nationality.  These  early  anti-Semitic 
agitators  knew  the  value  of  a  good  solid  prejudice,  and 
of  a  nickname.  '  Jews ' — that  was  enough.  The  rioters 
were  'Romans' — of  a  sort,  no  doubt,  but  it  was  poor  pride 
for  a  Macedonian  to  plume  himself  on  having  lost  his 
nationality.  The  great  crime  laid  to  Paul's  charge  was 
— troubling  the  city.  So  it  always  is.  Whether  it  be 
George  Fox,  or  John  Wesley,  or  the  Salvation  Army, 
the  disorderly  elements  of  every  community  attack  the 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  the  name  of  order,  and  break 
the  peace  in  their  eagerness  to  have  it  kept.  There 
was  no  '  trouble '  in  Philippi,  but  the  uproar  which  they 
themselves  were  making.  The  quiet  praying-place  by 
the  riverside,  and  the  silencing  of  the  maiden's  shout 
in  the  streets,  were  not  exactly  the  signs  of  disturbers 
of  civic  tranquillity. 

The  accuracy  of  the  charge  may  be  measured  by  the 
ignorance  of  the  accusers  that  Paul  and  his  friends  were 
in  any  way  different  from  the  run  of  Jews.  No  doubt 
they  were  supposed  to  be  teaching  Jewish  practices, 
which  were  supposed  to  be  inconsistent  with  Roman 


vs.  19-34]     THE  RIOT  AT  PHILIPPI  117 

citizenship.  But  if  the  magistrates  had  said,  'What 
customs?'  the  charge  would  have  collapsed.  Thank 
God,  the  Gospel  has  a  witness  to  bear  against  many 
*  customs ' ;  but  it  does  not  begin  by  attacking  even  these, 
much  less  by  prescribing  illegalities.  Its  errand  was 
and  is  to  the  individual  first.  It  sets  the  inner  man 
right  with  God,  and  then  the  new  life  works  itself  out, 
and  will  war  against  evils  which  the  old  life  deemed 
good;  but  the  conception  of  Christianity  as  a  code 
regulating  actions  is  superficial,  whether  it  is  held  by 
friends  or  foes. 

There  is  always  a  mob  ready  to  follow  any  leader, 
especially  if  there  is  the  prospect  of  hurting  somebody. 
The  lovers  of  tranquillity  showed  how  they  loved  it  by 
dragging  Paul  and  Silas  into  the  forum,  and  bellow- 
ing untrue  charges  against  them.  The  mob  seconded 
them ;  *  they  rose  up  together  [with  the  slave-owners] 
against  Paul  and  Silas.'  The  magistrates,  knowing  the 
ticklish  material  that  they  had  to  deal  with,  and  seeing 
only  a  couple  of  Jews  from  nobody  knew  where,  did 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  inquire  or  remonstrate. 
They  were  either  cowed  or  indifferent ;  and  so,  to  show 
how  zealous  they  and  the  mob  were  for  Roman  law, 
they  drove  a  coach-and-six  clean  through  it,  and 
without  the  show  of  investigation,  scourged  and  threw 
into  prison  the  silent  Apostles.  It  was  a  specimen  of 
what  has  happened  too  often  since.  How  many  saints 
have  been  martyred  to  keep  popular  feeling  in  good 
tune !  And  how  many  politicians  will  strain  conscience 
to-day,  because  they  are  afraid  of  what  Luke  here  un- 
politely  calls  '  the  multitude,'  or  as  we  might  render  it, 
'the  mob,'  but  which  we  now  fit  with  a  much  more 
respectful  appellation ! 

The  jailer,  on  his  part,  in  the  true  spirit  of  small 


118  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

officials,  was  ready  to  better  his  instructions.  It  is  dan- 
gerous to  give  vague  directions  to  such  people.  When 
the  judge  has  ordered  unlawful  scourging,  the  turnkey- 
is  not  likely  to  interpret  the  requirement  of  safe  keep- 
ing too  leniently.  One  would  not  look  for  much  human 
kindness  in  a  Philippian  jail.  So  it  was  natural  that 
the  deepest,  darkest,  most  foul-smelling  den  should  be 
chosen  for  the  two,  and  that  they  should  be  thrust, 
bleeding  backs  and  all,  into  the  stocks,  to  sleep  if 
they  could. 

II.  These  birds  could  sing  in  a  darkened  cage.  The 
jailer's  treatment  of  them  after  his  conversion  shows 
what  he  had  neglected  to  do  at  first.  They  had  no 
food;  their  bloody  backs  were  unsponged;  they  were 
thrust  into  a  filthy  hole,  and  put  in  a  posture  of  tor- 
ture. No  wonder  that  they  could  not  sleep !  But  what 
hindered  sleep  would,  with  most  men,  have  sorely 
dimmed  trust  and  checked  praise.  Not  so  with  them. 
God  gave  them  '  songs  in  the  night.'  We  can  hear 
the  strains  through  all  the  centuries,  and  they  bid 
us  be  cheerful  and  trustful,  whatever  befalls.  Surely 
Christian  faith  never  is  more  noble  than  when  it 
triumphs  over  circumstances,  and  brings  praises  from 
lips  which,  if  sense  had  its  way,  would  wail  and  groan. 
'  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world.'  The 
true  anaesthetic  is  trust  in  God.  No  wonder  that  the 
baser  sort  of  prisoners — and  base  enough  they  probably 
were — 'were  listening  to  them,'  for  such  sounds  had 
never  been  heard  there  before.  In  how  many  a  prison 
have  they  been  heard  since ! 

We  are  not  told  that  the  Apostles  prayed  for  deliver- 
ance. Such  deliverance  had  not  been  always  granted. 
Peter  indeed  had  been  set  free,  but  Stephen  and  Jamea 
bad  been  martyred,  and  these  two  heroes  had  no  ground 


vs.  19-34]     THE  RIOT  AT  PHILIPPI  119 

to  expect  a  miracle  to  free  them.  But  thankful  trust 
is  always  an  appeal  to  God.  And  it  is  always  answered, 
whether  by  deliverance  from  or  support  in  trial. 

This  time  deliverance  came.  The  tremor  of  the 
earth  was  the  token  of  God's  answer.  It  does  not 
seem  likely  that  an  earthquake  could  loosen  fetters 
in  a  jail  full  of  prisoners,  but  more  probably  the 
opening  of  the  doors  and  the  falling  off  of  the  chains 
were  due  to  a  separate  act  of  divine  power,  the  earth- 
quake being  but  the  audible  token  thereof.  At  all 
events,  here  again,  the  first  of  a  series  has  dis- 
tinguishing features,  and  may  stand  as  type  of  all  its 
successors.  God  will  never  leave  trusting  hearts  to 
the  fury  of  enemies.  He  sometimes  will  stretch  out 
a  hand  and  set  them  free,  He  sometimes  will  leave 
them  to  bear  the  utmost  that  the  world  can  do,  but 
He  will  always  hear  their  cry  and  save  them.  Paul 
had  learned  the  lesson  which  Philippi  was  meant  to 
teach,  when  he  said,  though  anticipating  a  speedy 
death  by  martyrdom,  '  The  Lord  will  deliver  me  from 
every  evil  work,  and  will  save  me  into  His  heavenly 
Kingdom.' 

III.  The  jailer  behaves  as  such  a  man  in  his  position 
would  do.  He  apparently  slept  in  a  place  that  com- 
manded a  view  of  the  doors ;  and  he  lay  dressed,  with 
his  sword  beside  him,  in  case  of  riot  or  attempted 
escape.  His  first  impulse  on  awaking  is  to  look  at  the 
gates.  They  are  open ;  then  some  of  his  charge  have 
broken  them.  His  immediate  thought  of  suicide  not 
only  shows  the  savage  severity  of  punishment  which 
he  knew  would  fall  on  him,  but  tells  a  dreary  tale  of 
the  desperate  sense  of  the  worthlessness  of  life  and 
blank  ignorance  of  anything  beyond  which  then  in- 
fected the  Roman  world.   Suicide,  the  refuge  of  cowards 


120  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvl 

or  of  pessimists,  sometimes  becomes  epidemic.  Faith 
must  have  died  and  hope  vanished  before  a  man  can 
say,  '  I  will  take  the  leap  into  the  dark.' 

Paul's  words  freed  the  man  from  one  fear,  but  woke 
a  less  selfish  and  profounder  awe.  What  did  all  this 
succession  of  strange  things  mean?  Here  are  doors 
open ;  how  came  that  ?  Here  are  prisoners  with  the 
possibility  of  escape  refusing  it ;  how  came  that  ?  Here 
is  one  of  his  victims  tenderly  careful  of  his  life  and 
peacef ulness,  and  taking  the  upper  hand  of  him ;  how 
came  that  ?  A  nameless  awe  begins  to  creep  over  him ; 
and  when  he  gets  lights,  and  sees  the  two  whom  he 
had  made  fast  in  the  stocks  standing  there  free,  and 
yet  not  caring  to  go  forth,  his  rough  nature  is  broken 
down.  He  recognises  his  superiors.  He  remembers 
the  pythoness's  testimony,  that  they  told  '  the  way  of 
salvation.' 

His  question  seems  'psychologically  impossible'  to 
critics,  who  have  probably  never  asked  it  themselves. 
Wonderful  results  follow  from  the  judicious  use  of 
that  imposing  word  'psychologically';  but  while  we 
are  not  to  suppose  that  this  man  knew  all  that '  salva- 
tion' meant,  there  is  no  improbability  in  his  asking 
such  a  question,  if  due  regard  is  paid  to  the  whole  pre- 
ceding events,  beginning  with  the  maiden's  words,  and 
including  the  impression  of  Paul's  personality  and  the 
mysterious  freeing  of  the  prisoners. 

His  dread  was  the  natural  fear  that  springs  when 
a  man  is  brought  face  to  face  with  God  ;  and  his 
question,  vague  and  ignorant  as  it  was,  is  the  cry  of 
the  dim  consciousness  that  lies  dormant  in  all  men— 
the  consciousness  of  needing  deliverance  and  healing. 
It  erred  in  supposing  that  he  had  to  'do'  anything; 
but  it  was  absolutely  right  in  supposing  that  he  needed 


vs.  19-34]    THE  RIOT  AT  PHILIPPI  121 

salvation,  and  that  Paul  could  tell  him  how  to  get  it. 
How  many  of  us,  knowing  far  more  than  he,  have 
never  asked  the  same  wise  question,  or  have  never 
gone  to  Paul  for  an  answer  ?  It  is  a  question  which 
we  should  all  ask ;  for  we  all  need  salvation,  which  is 
deliverance  from  danger  and  healing  for  soul-sickness. 

Paul's  answer  is  blessedly  short  and  clear.  Its  brevity 
and  decisive  plainness  are  the  glory  of  the  Gospel.  It 
crystallises  into  a  short  sentence  the  essential  directory 
for  all  men. 

See  how  little  it  takes  to  secure  salvation.  But  see 
how  much  it  takes ;  for  the  hardest  thing  of  all  is  to 
be  content  to  accept  it  as  a  gift,  *  without  money  and 
without  price.'  Many  people  have  listened  to  sermons 
all  their  lives,  and  still  have  no  clear  understanding  of 
the  way  of  salvation.  Alas  that  so  often  the  divine 
simplicity  and  brevity  of  Paul's  answer  are  darkened 
by  a  multitude  of  irrelevant  words  and  explanations 
which  explain  nothing ! 

The  passage  ends  with  the  blessing  which  we  may  all 
receive.  Of  course  the  career  begun  then  had  to  be 
continued  by  repeated  acts  of  faith,  and  by  growing 
knowledge  and  obedience.  The  incipient  salvation  is 
very  incomplete,  but  very  real.  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  that,  for  some  characters,  the  only  way  of 
becoming  Christians  is  to  become  so  by  one  dead-lift  of 
resolution.  Some  things  are  best  done  slowly;  some 
things  best  quickly.  One  swift  blow  makes  a  cleaner 
fracture  than  filing  or  sawing.  The  light  comes  into 
some  lives  like  sunshine  in  northern  latitudes,  with 
long  dawn  and  slowly  growing  brightness ;  but  in 
some  the  sun  leaps  into  the  sky  in  a  moment,  as  in  the 
tropics.  What  matter  how  long  it  takes  to  rise,  if  it 
does  rise,  and  climb  to  the  zenith  ? 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  AND  THE  PLAIN 
ANSWER 

'  He  brought  them  out,  and  said,  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  31.  And  they 
said,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.'— Acts  xvi.  30,  31. 

The  keeper  of  a  Macedonian  jail  was  not  likely  to  be 
a  very  nervous  or  susceptible  person.  And  so  the 
extraordinary  state  of  agitation  and  panic  into  which 
this  rough  jailer  was  cast  needs  some  kind  of  explana- 
tion. There  had  been,  as  you  will  all  remember,  an 
earthquake  of  a  strange  kind,  for  it  not  only  opened 
the  prison  doors,  but  shook  the  prisoner's  chains  off. 
Th^  doors  being  opened,  there  was  on  the  part  of  the 
jailer,  who  probably  ought  not  to  have  been  asleep, 
a  very  natural  fear  that  his  charge  had  escaped. 

So  he  was  ready,  with  that  sad  willingness  for 
suicide  which  marked  his  age,  to  cast  himself  on  his 
sword,  when  Paul  encouraged  him. 

That  fear  then  was  past ;  what  was  he  afraid  of 
now  ?  He  knew  the  prisoners  were  all  safe ;  why 
should  he  have  come  pale  and  trembling?  Perhaps 
we  shall  find  an  answer  to  the  question  in  another 
one.  Why  should  he  have  gone  to  Paul  and  Silas,  his 
two  prisoners,  for  an  anodyne  to  his  fears  ? 

The  answer  to  that  may  possibly  be  found  in  re- 
membering that  for  many  days  before  this  a  singular 
thing  had  happened.  Up  and  down  the  streets  of 
Philippi  a  woman  possessed  with  'a  spirit  of  divina- 
tion '  had  gone  at  the  heels  of  these  two  men,  proclaim- 
ing in  such  a  way  as  to  disturb  them :  '  These  are  the 
servants  of  the  Most  High  God,  which  show  unto  us 
the  way  of  salvation.'  It  was  a  new  word  and  a  new 
idea  in  Philippi  or  in  Macedonia.     This  jaile  r  had  got 

122 


vs.  30,31]     THE  GREAT  QUESTION  123 

it  into  his  mind  that  these  two  men  had  in  their 
hands  a  good  which  he  only  dimly  understood.  The 
panic  caused  by  the  earthquake  deepened  into  a 
consciousness  of  some  supernatural  atmosphere  about 
him,  and  stirred  in  his  rude  nature  unwonted  aspira- 
tions and  terrors  other  than  he  had  known,  which  cast 
him  at  Paul's  feet  with  this  strange  question. 

Now  do  you  think  that  the  jailer's  question  was  a 
piece  of  foolish  superstition?  I  daresay  some  of  you 
do,  or  some  of  you  may  suppose  too  that  it  was  one 
very  unnecessary  for  him  or  anybody  to  ask.  So  I 
wish  now,  in  a  very  few  words,  to  deal  with  these 
three  points — the  question  that  we  should  all  ask,  the 
answer  that  we  may  all  take,  the  blessing  that  we  may 
all  have. 

I.  The  question  that  we  should  all  ask. 

I  know  that  it  is  very  unfashionable  nowadays  to 
talk  about  '  salvation '  as  man's  need.  The  word  has 
come  to  be  so  worn  and  commonplace  and  technical 
that  many  men  turn  away  from  it ;  but  for  all  that,  let 
me  try  to  stir  up  the  consciousness  of  the  deep  necessity 
that  it  expresses. 

What  is  it  to  be  saved?  Two  things;  to  be  healed 
and  to  be  safe.  In  both  aspects  the  expression  is 
employed  over  and  over  again  in  Scripture.  It  means 
either  restoration  from  sickness  or  deliverance  from 
peril.  I  venture  to  press  upon  every  one  of  my  hearers 
these  two  considerations — we  all  need  healing  from 
sickness ;  we  all  need  safety  from  peril. 

Dear  brethren,  most  of  you  are  entire  strangers  to 
me ;  I  daresay  many  of  you  never  heard  my  voice 
before,  and  probably  may  never  hear  it  again.  But 
yet,  because  'we  have  all  of  us  one  human  heart,'  a 
brother-man  comes  to  you  as  possessing  with  you  one 


124  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

common  experience,  and  ventures  to  say  on  the 
strength  of  his  knowledge  of  himself,  if  on  no  other 
ground,  'We  have  all  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God.' 

Mind,  I  am  not  speaking  ahout  vices.  I  have  no  doubt 
you  are  a  perfectly  respectable  man,  in  all  the  ordinary 
relations  of  life.  I  am  not  speaking  about  crimes.  I 
daresay  there  may  be  a  man  or  two  here  that  has  been 
in  a  dock  in  his  day.  Possibly.  It  does  not  matter 
whether  there  is  or  not.  But  I  am  not  speaking 
about  either  vices  or  crimes ;  I  am  speaking  about  how 
we  stand  in  reference  to  God.  And  I  pray  you  to  bring 
yourselves— for  no  one  can  do  it  for  you,  and  no  words 
of  mine  can  do  anything  but  stimulate  you  to  the  act — 
face  to  face  with  the  absolute  and  dazzlingly  pure 
righteousness  of  your  Father  in  Heaven,  and  to  feel 
the  contrast  between  your  life  and  what  you  know  He 
desires  you  to  be.  Be  honest  with  yourselves  in  asking 
and  answering  the  question  whether  or  not  you  have 
this  sickness  of  sin,  its  paralysis  in  regard  to  good  or 
its  fevered  inclination  to  evil.  If  salvation  means 
being  healed  of  a  disease,  we  all  have  the  disease ;  and 
whether  we  wish  it  or  no,  we  want  the  healing. 

And  what  of  the  other  meaning  of  the  word  ?  Salva- 
tion means  being  safe.  Are  you  safe?  Am  I  safe? 
Is  anybody  safe  standing  in  front  of  that  awful  law 
that  rules  the  whole  universe,  'Whatsoever  a  man 
soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap '  ?  I  am  not  going  to 
talk  about  any  of  the  moot  points  which  this  generation 
has  such  a  delight  in  discussing,  as  to  the  nature,  the 
duration,  the  purpose,  or  the  like,  of  future  retribution. 
All  that  I  am  concerned  in  now  is  that  all  men,  deep 
down  in  the  bottom  of  their  consciousness— and  you 
and  I  amongst   the  rest — know  that  there  is  such  a 


vs.  30, 31]     THE  GREAT  QUESTION  125 

thing  as  retribution  here ;  and  if  there  be  a  life  beyond 
the  grave  at  all,  necessarily  in  an  infinitely  intenser 
fashion  there.  Somewhere  and  somehow,  men  will 
have  to  lie  on  the  beds  that  they  have  made ;  to  drink 
as  they  have  brewed.  If  sin  means  separation  from 
God,  and  separation  from  God  means,  as  it  assuredly 
does,  death,  then  I  ask  you — and  there  is  no  need  for 
any  exaggerated  words  about  it — Are  we  not  in  danger? 
And  if  salvation  be  a  state  of  deliverance  from  sickness, 
and  a  state  of  deliverance  from  peril,  do  we  not  need  it  ? 

Ah,  brethren,  I  venture  to  say  that  we  need  it  more 
than  anything  else.  You  will  not  misunderstand  me  as 
expressing  the  slightest  depreciation  of  other  remedies 
that  are  being  extensively  offered  now  for  the  various 
evils  under  which  society  and  individuals  groan.  I 
heartily  sympathise  with  them  all,  and  would  do  my 
part  to  help  them  forward ;  but  I  cannot  but  feel  that 
whilst  culture  of  the  intellect,  of  the  taste,  of  the  sense 
of  beauty,  of  the  refining  agencies  generally,  is  very 
valuable ;  and  whilst  moral  and  social  and  economical 
and  political  changes  will  all  do  something,  and  some 
of  them  a  great  deal,  to  diminish  the  sum  of  human 
misery,  you  have  to  go  deeper  down  than  these  reach. 
It  is  not  culture  that  we  want  most ;  it  is  salvation. 
Brethren,  you  and  I  are  wrong  in  our  relation  to  God, 
and  that  means  death  and — if  you  do  not  shrink  from 
the  vulgar  old  word — damnation.  We  are  wrong  in 
our  relation  to  God,  and  that  has  to  be  set  right  before 
we  are  fundamentally  and  thoroughly  right.  That  is 
to  say,  salvation  is  our  deepest  need. 

Then  how  does  it  come  that  men  go  on,  as  so  many 
of  my  friends  here  now  have  gone  on,  all  their  days 
paj'ing  no  attention  to  that  need?  Is  there  any 
folly,  amidst  all  the  irrationalities  of  that  irrational 


126  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xvi. 

creature  man,  to  be  matched  with  the  folly  of  steadily- 
refusing  to  look  forward  and  settle  for  ourselves  the 
prime  element  in  our  condition — viz.,  our  relation  to 
God  ?  Strange  is  it  not— that  power  that  we  have  of 
refusing  to  look  at  the  barometer  when  it  is  going 
down,  of  turning  away  from  unwholesome  subjects 
just  because  we  know  them  to  be  so  unwelcome  and 
threatening,  and  of  buying  a  moment's  exemption  from 
discomfort  at  the  price  of  a  life's  ruin  ? 

Do  you  remember  that  old  story  of  the  way  in  which 
the  prisoners  in  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution 
used  to  behave?  The  tumbrils  came  every  morning 
and  carried  off  a  file  of  them  to  the  guillotine,  and 
the  rest  of  them  had  a  ghastly  make-believe  of  carry- 
ing on  the  old  frivolities  of  the  life  of  the  salons  and 
of  society.  And  it  lasted  for  an  hour  or  two,  but 
the  tumbril  came  next  morning  all  the  same,  and  the 
guillotine  stood  there  gaping  in  the  Place.  And  so  it 
is  useless,  although  it  is  so  frequently  done  by  so  many 
of  us,  to  try  to  shut  out  facts  instead  of  facing  them. 
A  man  is  never  so  wise  as  when  he  says  to  himself, 
*  Let  me  fairly  know  the  whole  truth  of  my  relation  to 
the  unseen  world  in  so  far  as  it  can  be  known  here, 
and  if  that  is  wrong,  let  me  set  about  rectifying  it  if 
it  be  possible.'  'What  will  ye  do  in  the  end?'  is  the 
wisest  question  that  a  man  can  ask  himself,  when  the 
end  is  as  certain  as  it  is  with  us,  and  as  unsatisfactory 
as  I  am  afraid  it  threatens  to  be  with  some  of  us  if  we 
continue  as  we  are. 

Have  I  not  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  half-sleeping  and 
half -waking  consciousness  that  endorses  my  words  in 
some  hearts  as  I  speak?  O  brethren,  you  would  be 
far  wiser  men  if  you  did  like  this  jailer  in  the 
Macedonian  prison,  came  and  gave  yourselves  no  rest 


vs.  30,  31]     THE  GREAT  QUESTION  127 

till  you  have  this  question  cleared  up,  *  What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ? ' 

There  was  an  old  Rabbi  who  used  to  preach  to  his 
disciples,  *  Repent  the  day  before  you  die.'  And  when 
they  said  to  him,  '  Rabbi,  we  do  not  know  what  day 
we  are  going  to  die.'  '  Then,'  said  he,  '  repent  to-day.' 
And  so  I  say  to  you,  '  Settle  about  the  end  before  the 
end  comes,  and  as  you  do  not  know  when  it  may  come, 
settle  about  it  now.' 

II.  That  brings  me  to  the  next  point  here,  viz.,  the 
blessed,  clear  answer  that  we  may  all  take. 

Paul  and  Silas  were  not  non-plussed  by  this  question, 
nor  did  they  reply  to  it  in  the  fashion  in  which  many 
men  would  have  answered  it.  Take  a  specimen  of  other 
answers.  If  anybody  were  so  far  left  to  himself  as 
to  go  with  this  question  to  some  of  our  modern  wise  men 
and  teachers,  they  would  say,  '  Saved  ?  My  good  fellow, 
there  is  nothing  to  be  saved  from.  Get  rid  of  delusions, 
and  clear  your  mind  of  cant  and  superstition.'  Or  they 
would  say,  'Saved?  Well,  if  you  have  gone  wrong,  do 
the  best  you  can  in  the  time  to  come.'  Or  if  you  went 
to  some  of  our  friends  they  would  say,  *  Come  and  be 
baptized,  and  receive  the  grace  of  regeneration  in  holy 
baptism;  and  then  come  to  the  sacraments,  and  be 
faithful  and  loyal  members  of  the  Church  which  has 
Apostolic  succession  in  it.'  And  some  would  say, '  Set 
yourselves  to  work  and  toil  and  labour.'  And  some 
would  say,  '  Don't  trouble  yourselves  about  such  whims. 
A  short  life  and  a  merry  one ;  make  the  best  of  it,  and 
jump  the  life  to  come.'  Neither  cold  morality,  nor 
godless  philosophy,  nor  wild  dissipation,  nor  narrow 
ecclesiasticism  prompted  Paul's  answer.  He  said, 
'  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved.' 


128  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

What  did  that  poor  heathen  man  know  about  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?  Next  to  nothing.  How  could  he 
believe  upon  Him  if  he  knew  so  little  about  Him? 
Well,  you  hear  in  the  context  that  this  summary- 
answer  to  the  question  was  the  beginning,  and  not 
the  end,  of  a  conversation,  which  conversation,  no 
doubt,  consisted  largely  in  extending  and  explaining 
the  brief  formulary  with  which  it  had  commenced. 
But  it  is  a  grand  thing  that  we  can  put  the  all-essential 
truth  into  half  a  dozen  simple  words,  and  then  ex- 
pound and  explain  them  as  may  be  necessary.  And 
I  come  to  you  now,  dear  brethren,  with  nothing  newer 
or  more  wonderful,  or  more  out  of  the  ordinary  way 
than  the  old  threadbare  message  which  men  have  been 
preaching  for  nineteen  hundred  years,  and  have  not 
exhausted,  and  which  some  of  you  have  heard  for  a 
lifetime,  and  have  never  practised,  '  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 

Now  I  am  not  going  to  weary  you  with  mere  dis- 
sertations upon  the  significance  of  these  words.  But  let 
me  single  out  two  points  about  them,  which  perhaps 
though  they  may  be  perfectly  familiar  to  you,  may 
come  to  you  with  fresh  force  from  my  lips  now. 

Mark,  first,  whom  it  is  that  we  are  to  believe  on. 
•  The  Lord,'  that  is  the  divine  Name ;  '  Jesus,'  that  is  the 
name  of  a  Man  ;  '  Christ,'  that  is  the  name  of  an  office. 
And  if  you  put  them  all  together,  they  come  to  this, 
that  He  on  whom  we  sinful  men  may  put  our  sole  trust 
and  hope  for  our  healing  and  our  safety,  is  the  Son  of 
God,  who  came  down  upon  earth  to  live  our  life  and 
to  die  our  death  that  He  might  bear  on  Himself  our 
sins,  and  fulfil  all  which  ancient  prophecy  and  symbol 
had  proclaimed  as  needful,  and  therefore  certain  to  be 
done,  for  men.    It  is  not  a  starved  half -Saviour  whose 


vs.  30, 31]     THE  GREAT  QUESTION  129 

name  is  only  Jesus,  and  neither  Lord  nor  Christ,  faith 
in  whom  will  save  you.  You  must  grasp  the  whole 
revelation  of  His  nature  and  His  power  if  from  Him 
there  is  to  flow  the  life  that  you  need. 

And  note  what  it  is  that  we  are  to  exercise  towards 
Jesus  Christ.  To  '  believe  on  Him '  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  believing  Him.  You  may  accept  all  that  I 
have  been  saying  about  who  and  what  He  is,  and  be  as 
far  away  from  the  faith  that  saves  a  soul  as  if  you  had 
never  heard  His  name.  To  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  to  lean  the  whole  weight  of  yourselves  upon 
Him.  What  do  you  do  when  you  trust  a  man  who 
promises  you  any  small  gift  or  advantage  ?  What  do 
you  do  when  dear  ones  say,  '  Rest  on  my  love  '  ?  You 
simply  trust  them.  And  the  very  same  exercise  of 
heart  and  mind  which  is  the  blessed  cement  that  holds 
human  society  together,  and  the  power  that  sheds 
peace  and  grace  over  friendships  and  love,  is  the 
power  which,  directed  to  Jesus  Christ,  brings  all  His 
saving  might  into  exercise  in  our  lives.  Brethren, 
trust  Him,  trust  Him  as  Lord,  trust  Him  as  Jesus,  trust 
Him  as  Christ.  Learn  your  sickness,  learn  your 
danger ;  and  be  sure  of  your  Healer  and  rejoice  in  your 
security.  '  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved.' 

III.  Lastly,  consider  the  blessing  we  may  all  receive. 

This  jailer  about  whom  we  have  been  speaking  was 
a  heathen  when  the  sun  set  and  a  Christian  when  it 
rose.  On  the  one  day  he  was  groping  in  darkness,  a 
worshipper  of  idols,  without  hope  in  the  future,  and 
ready  in  desperation  to  plunge  himself  into  the  dark- 
ness beyond,  when  he  thought  his  prisoners  had  fled. 
In  an  hour  or  two  'he  rejoiced,  believing  in  God  with 
all  his  house.* 

VOL.  II.  I 


130  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xvi. 

A  sudden  conversion,  you  say,  and  sudden  conver- 
sions are  always  suspicious.  I  am  not  so  sure  about 
that ;  they  may  be,  or  they  may  not  be,  according  to 
circumstances.  I  know  very  well  that  it  is  not  fashion- 
able now  to  preach  the  possibility  or  the  probability 
of  men  turning  all  at  once  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
that  people  shrug  their  shoulders  at  the  old  theory 
of  sudden  conversions.  I  think,  so  much  the  worse. 
There  are  a  great  many  things  in  this  world  that 
have  to  be  done  suddenly  if  they  are  ever  to  be  done 
at  all.  And  I,  for  my  part,  would  have  far  more  hope 
for  a  man  who,  in  one  leap,  sprung  from  the  depth  of 
the  degradation  of  that  coarse  jailer  into  the  light 
and  joy  of  the  Christian  life,  than  for  a  man  who  tried 
to  get  to  it  by  slow  steps.  You  have  to  do  everything 
in  this  world  worth  doing  by  a  sudden  resolution,  how- 
ever long  the  preparation  may  have  been  which  led 
up  to  the  resolution.  The  act  of  resolving  is  always 
the  act  of  an  instant.  And  when  men  are  plunged  in 
darkness  and  profligacy,  as  are,  perhaps,  some  of  my 
hearers  now,  there  is  far  more  chance  of  their  casting 
off  their  evil  by  a  sudden  jerk  than  of  their  unwinding 
the  snake  by  slow  degrees  from  their  arms.  There  is 
no  reason  whatever  why  the  soundest  and  solidest 
and  most  lasting  transformation  of  character  should 
not  begin  in  a  moment's  resolve. 

And  there  is  an  immense  danger  that  with  some  of 
you,  if  that  change  does  not  begin  in  a  moment's 
resolve  now,  you  will  be  further  away  from  it  than 
ever  you  were.  I  have  no  doubt  there  are  many 
of  you  who,  at  any  time  for  years  past,  have  known 
that  you  ought  to  be  Christians,  and  who,  at  any  time 
for  years  past,  have  been  saying  to  yourselves  :  '  Well, 
I  will  think  about  it,  and  I  am  tending  towards  it, 


vs.  30, 31]   THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA   131 

but  I  cannot  quite  make  the  plunge.'  Why  not;  and 
why  not  now  ?  You  can  if  you  will ;  you  ought ;  you 
will  be  a  better  and  happier  man  if  you  do.  You  will 
be  saved  from  your  sickness  and  safe  from  your  danger. 

The  outcast  jailer  changed  nationalities  in  a  moment. 
You  who  have  dwelt  in  the  suburbs  of  Christ's  King- 
dom all  your  lives — why  cannot  you  go  inside  the  gate 
as  quickly  ?  For  many  of  us  the  gradual  '  growing  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord '  has  been 
the  appointed  way.  For  some  of  us  I  verily  believe 
the  sudden  change  is  the  best.  Some  of  us  have  a 
sunrise  as  in  the  tropics,  where  the  one  moment  is  grey 
and  cold,  and  next  moment  the  seas  are  lit  with  the 
glory.  Others  of  us  have  a  sunrise  as  at  the  poles, 
where  a  long  slowly-growing  light  precedes  the  rising, 
and  the  rising  itself  is  scarce  observable.  But  it  matters 
little  as  to  how  we  get  to  Christ,  if  we  are  there, 
and  it  matters  little  whether  a  man's  faith  grows  up 
in  a  moment,  or  is  the  slow  product  of  years.  If  only 
it  be  rooted  in  Christ  it  will  bear  fruit  unto  life  eternal. 

And  so,  dear  brethren,  I  come  to  you  with  my  last 
question,  this  man  rejoiced,  believing  in  the  Lord  ;  why 
should  not  you ;  and  why  should  not  you  now  ?  '  Look 
unto  Me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.' 
A  look  is  a  swift  act,  but  if  it  be  the  beginning  of  a 
lifelong  gaze,  it  will  be  the  beginning  of  salvation  and 
of  a  glory  longer  than  life. 


THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA 

'  Now,  when  they  had  passed  through  Amphipolis  and  ApoUonia,  they  came  to 
Thessalonica,  where  was  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews :  2.  And  Paul,  as  his  manner 
was,  went  in  unto  them,  and  three  sabbath-days  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the 
scriptures,  3.  Opening  and  alleging,  that  Christ  must  needs  have  suflfered,  and 
risen  again  from  the  dead  ;  and  that  this  Jesus,  whom  I  preach  unto  you.  is  Christ. 
i.  And  some  of  them  believed,  and  consorted  with  Paul  and  Silas;  and  of  the 


132  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xvii. 

devout  Greekf5  a  great  nmltitude,  and  of  the  chief  women  not  a  few.  5.  But  the 
Jews  which  believed  not,  moved  with  envy,  took  unto  them  certain  lewd  fellows 
of  the  baser  sort,  and  gathered  a  company,  and  set  all  the  city  on  an  uproar,  and 
assaulted  the  house  of  Jason,  and  sought  to  bring  them  out  to  the  people.  6.  And 
when  they  found  them  not,  they  drew  Jason  and  certain  brethren  unto  the  rulers 
of  the  city,  crying,  These  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down  are  come  hither 
also ;  7.  Whom  Jason  hath  received  ;  and  these  all  do  contrary  to  the  decrees  of 
Ccesar,  saying  that  there  is  another  king,  one  Jesus.  8.  And  they  troubled  the 
people  and  the  rulers  of  the  city,  when  they  heard  these  things,  9.  And  when 
they  had  taken  security  of  Jason,  and  of  the  other,  they  let  them  go.  10.  And  the 
brethren  immediately  sent  away  Paul  and  Silas  by  night  unto  Berea :  who  coming 
thither  went  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews.  11.  These  were  more  noble  than 
those  in  Thessalonica,  in  that  they  received  the  word  with  all  readiness  of  mind, 
and  searched  the  scriptures  daily,  whether  those  things  were  so.  12.  Therefore 
many  of  them  believed ;  also  of  honourable  women  which  were  Greeks,  and  of  men, 
not  a  few.'— Acts  xvii.  1-12, 

'Shamefully  entreated  at  Philippi,'  Paul  tells  the 
Thessalonians,  he  '  waxed  bold  in  our  God  to '  preach  to 
them.  His  experience  in  the  former  city  might  well 
have  daunted  a  feebler  faith,  but  opposition  affected 
Paul  as  little  as  a  passing  hailstorm  dints  a  rock.  To 
change  the  field  was  common  sense;  to  abandon  the 
work  would  have  been  sin.  But  Paul's  brave  per- 
sistence was  not  due  to  his  own  courage;  he  drew  it 
from  God.  Because  he  lived  in  communion  with  Him, 
his  courage  '  waxed '  as  dangers  gathered.  He  knew 
that  he  was  doing  a  daring  thing,  but  he  knew  who 
was  his  helper.  So  he  went  steadily  on,  whatever 
might  front  him.  His  temper  of  mind  and  the  source 
of  it  are  wonderfully  revealed  in  his  simple  words. 

The  transference  to  Thessalonica  illustrates  another 
principle  of  his  action ;  namely,  his  preference  of  great 
centres  of  population  as  fields  of  work.  He  passes 
through  two  less  important  places  to  establish  himself 
in  the  great  city.  It  is  wise  to  fly  at  the  head.  Conquer 
the  cities,  and  the  villages  will  fall  of  themselves.  That 
was  the  policy  which  carried  Christianity  through  the 
empire  like  a  prairie  fire.  Would  that  later  missions 
had  adhered  to  it ! 

The  methods  adopted  in  Thessalonica  were  the  usual 
ones.    Luke  bids  us  notice  that  Paul  took  the  same 


vs.  1-12]  THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA     133 

course  of  action  in  each  place :  namely,  to  go  to  the 
synagogue  first,  when  there  was  one,  and  there  to  prove 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  The  three  Macedonian 
towns  already  mentioned  seem  not  to  have  had  syna- 
gogues. Probably  there  were  comparatively  few  Jews 
in  them,  and  these  were  ecclesiastically  dependent  on 
Thessalonica.  We  can  fancy  the  growing  excitement 
in  the  synagogue,  as  for  three  successive  Sabbaths  the 
stranger  urged  his  proofs  of  the  two  all-important  but 
most  unwelcome  assertions,  that  their  own  scriptures 
foretold  a  suffering  Messiah, — a  side  of  Messianic  pro- 
phecy which  was  ignored  or  passionately  denied — and 
that  Jesus  was  that  Messiah.  Many  a  vehement  protest 
would  be  shrieked  out,  with  flashing  eyes  and  abundant 
gesticulation,  as  he  '  opened'  the  sense  of  Scripture,  and 
*  quoted  passages,' — for  that  is  the  meaning  here  of  the 
word  rendered  *  alleging.'  He  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the 
hot  discussions  when  he  says  that  he  preached  '  in  much 
conflict'  (1  Thess.  ii.  2). 

With  whatever  differences  in  manner  of  presentation, 
the  true  message  of  the  Christian  teacher  is  still  the 
message  that  woke  such  opposition  in  the  synagogue 
of  Thessalonica, — the  bold  proclamation  of  the  personal 
Christ,  His  death  and  resurrection.  And  with  whatever 
differences,  the  instrument  of  conviction  is  still  the 
Scriptures,  *  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word 
of  God.'  The  more  closely  we  keep  ourselves  to  that 
message  and  that  weapon  the  better. 

The  effects  of  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel  are 
as  uniform  as  the  method.  It  does  one  of  two  things  to 
its  hearers — either  it  melts  their  hearts  and  leads  them 
to  faith,  or  it  stirs  them  to  more  violent  enmity.  It  is 
either  a  stone  of  stumbling  or  a  sure  corner-stone.  We 
either  build  on  or  fall  over  it,  and  at  last  are  crushed 


134  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xvii. 

by  it.  The  converts  included  Jews  and  proselytes  in 
larger  numbers,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  distinc- 
tion drawn  by  '  some ' — referring  to  the  former,  and  '  a 
great  multitude ' — referring  to  the  latter.  Besides  these 
there  were  a  good  many  ladies  of  rank  and  refinement, 
as  was  also  the  case  presently  at  Beroea.  Probably 
these,  too,  were  proselytes. 

The  prominence  of  women  among  the  converts,  as 
soon  as  the  gospel  is  brought  into  Europe,  is  interest- 
ing and  prophetic.  The  fact  of  the  social  position  of 
these  ladies  may  suggest  that  the  upper  classes  were 
freer  from  superstition  than  the  lower,  and  may  point 
a  not  favourable  contrast  with  present  social  conditions, 
which  do  not  result  in  a  similn  r  accession  of  women  of 
' honourable  estate'  to  the  Church. 

Opposition  follows  as  uniform  a  course  as  the  preach- 
ing. The  broad  outlines  are  the  same  in  each  case, 
while  the  local  colouring  varies.  If  we  compare  Paul's 
narrative  in  1  Thessalonians,  which  throbs  with  emo- 
tion, and,  as  it  were,  pants  with  the  stress  of  the 
conflict,  with  Luke's  calm  account  here,  we  see  not  only 
how  Paul  felt,  but  why  the  Jews  got  up  a  riot.  Luke 
says  that  they  '  became  jealous.'  Paul  expands  that  into 
'  they  are  contrary  to  all  men ;  forbidding  us  to  speak  to 
the  Gentiles  that  they  may  be  saved.'  Then  it  was  not  so 
much  dislike  to  the  preaching  of  Jesus  as  Messiah  as  it 
was  rage  that  their  Jewish  prerogative  was  infringed, 
and  the  children's  bread  offered  to  the  dogs,  that  stung 
them  to  violent  opposition.  Israel  had  been  chosen, 
that  it  might  be  God's  witness,  and  diffuse  the  treasure 
it  possessed  through  all  the  world.  It  had  become,  not 
the  dispenser,  but  the  would-be  monopolist,  of  its  gift. 
Have  there  been  no  Christian  communities  in  later 
days  animated  by  the  same  spirit  ? 


vs.  1-12]  THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA     135 

There  were  plenty  of  loafers  in  the  market-place  ready 
for  any  mischief,  and  by  no  means  particular  about  the 
pretext  for  a  riot.  Anything  that  would  give  an  oppor- 
tunity for  hurting  somebody,  and  for  loot,  would  attract 
them  as  corruption  does  flesh-flies.  So  the  Jewish  ring- 
leaders easily  got  a  crowd  together.  To  tell  their  real 
reasons  would  scarcely  have  done,  but  to  say  that  there 
was  a  house  to  be  attacked,  and  some  foreigners  to 
be  dragged  out,  was  enough  for  the  present.  Jason's 
house  was  probably  Paul's  temporary  home,  where,  as 
he  tells  us  in  1  Thessalonians  ii.  9,  he  had  worked  at 
his  trade,  that  he  might  not  be  burdensome  to  any. 
Possibly  he  and  Silas  had  been  warned  of  the  approach 
of  the  rioters  and  had  got  away  elsewhere.  At  all 
events,  the  nest  was  empty,  but  the  crowd  must  have  its 
victims,  and  so,  failing  Paul,  they  laid  hold  of  Jason. 
His  offence  was  a  very  shadowy  one.  But  since  his 
day  there  have  been  many  martyrs,  whose  only  crime 
was  '  harbouring '  Christians,  or  heretics,  or  recusant 
priests,  or  Covenanters.  If  a  bull  cannot  gore  a  man, 
it  will  toss  his  cloak. 

The  charge  against  Jason  is  that  he  receives  the 
Apostle  and  his  party,  and  constructively  favours  their 
designs.  The  charge  against  them  is  that  they  are 
revolutionists, rebels  against  the  Emperor, and  partisans 
of  a  riv^al.  Now  we  may  note  three  things  about  the 
charge.  First,  it  conies  with  a  very  distinct  taint  of 
insincerity  from  Jews,  who  were,  to  say  the  least,  not 
remarkable  for  loyalty  or  peaceful  obedience.  The 
Gracchi  are  complaining  of  sedition !  A  Jew  zealous  for 
Caesar  is  an  anomaly,  which  might  excite  the  suspicions 
of  the  least  suspicious  ruler.  The  charge  of  breaking 
the  peace  comes  with  remarkable  appropriateness  from 
the  leaders  of  a  riot.    They  were  the  troublers  of  the 


136  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xvii. 

city,  not  Paul,  peacefully  preaching  in  the  synagogue. 
The  wolf  scolds  the  lamb  for  fouling  the  river. 

Again, the  charges  are  a  violent  distortion  of  the  truth. 
Possibly  the  Jewish  ringleaders  believed  what  they 
said,  but  more  probably  they  consciously  twisted  Paul's 
teachings,  because  they  knew  that  no  other  charges 
would  excite  so  much  hostility  or  be  so  damning  as 
those  which  they  made.  The  mere  suggestion  of  treason 
was  often  fatal.  The  wild  exaggeration  that  the  Chris- 
tians had  'turned  the  whole  civilised  world  upside  down' 
betrays  passionate  hatred  and  alarm,  if  it  was  genuine, 
or  crafty  determination  to  rouse  the  mob,  if  it  was  con- 
sciously trumped  up.  But  whether  the  charges  were 
believed  or  not  by  those  who  made  them,  here  were 
Jews  disclaiming  their  nation's  dearest  hope,  and,  like 
the  yelling  crowd  at  the  Crucifixion,  declaring  they  had 
no  king  but  Csesar.  The  degradation  of  Israel  was  com- 
pleted by  these  fanatical  upholders  of  its  prerogatives. 

But,  again,  the  charges  were  true  in  a  far  other  sense 
than  their  bringers  meant.  For  Christianity  is  revolu- 
tionary, and  its  very  aim  is  to  turn  the  world  upside 
down,  since  the  wrong  side  is  uppermost  at  present,  and 
Jesus,  not  Caesar,  or  any  king  or  emperor  or  czar,  is 
the  true  Lord  and  ruler  of  men.  But  the  revolution 
which  He  makes  is  the  revolution  of  individuals,  turn- 
ing them  from  darkness  to  light ;  for  He  moulds  single 
souls  first  and  society  afterwards.  Violence  is  always 
a  mistake,  and  the  only  way  to  change  evil  customs 
is  to  change  men's  natures,  and  then  the  customs  drop 
away  of  themselves.  The  true  rule  begins  with  the  sway 
of  hearts ;  then  wills  are  submissive,  and  conduct  is  the 
expression  of  inward  delight  in  a  law  which  is  sweet 
because  the  lawgiver  is  dear. 

Missing  Paul,  the  mob  fell  on  Jason  and  the  brethren. 


vs.  1-12]  THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA     137 

They  were  '  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace.'  Evidently 
the  rulers  had  little  fear  of  these  alleged  desperate 
revolutionaries,  and  did  as  little  as  they  dared,  without 
incurring  the  reproach  of  being  tepid  in  their  loyalty. 

Probably  the  removal  of  Paul  and  his  travelling 
companions  from  the  neighbourhood  was  included  in 
the  terms  to  which  Jason  had  to  submit.  Their  hurried 
departure  does  not  seem  to  have  been  caused  by  a 
renewal  of  disturbances.  At  all  events,  their  Beroean  ex- 
perience repeated  that  of  Philippi  and  of  Thessalonica, 
with  one  great  and  welcome  difference.  The  Beroean 
Jews  did  exactly  what  their  compatriots  elsewhere 
would  not  do — they  looked  into  the  subject  with  their 
own  eyes,  and  tested  Paul's  assertions  by  Scripture. 
'Therefore,'  says  Luke,  with  grand  confidence  in  the 
impregnable  foundations  of  the  faith,  '  many  of  them 
believed.'  True  nobility  of  soul  consists  in  willingness 
to  receive  the  Word,  combined  with  diligent  testing  of 
it.  Christ  asks  for  no  blind  adhesion.  The  true 
Christian  teacher  wishes  for  no  renunciation,  on  the 
part  of  his  hearers,  of  their  own  judgments.  '  Open 
your  mouth  and  shut  your  eyes,  and  swallow  what  I 
give  you,'  is  not  the  language  of  Christianity,  though 
it  has  sometimes  been  the  demand  of  its  professed 
missionaries,  and  not  the  teacher  only,  but  the 
taught  also,  have  been  but  too  ready  to  exercise  blind 
credulity  instead  of  intelligent  examination  and  clear- 
eyed  faith.  If  professing  Christians  to-day  were  better 
acquainted  with  the  Scriptures,  and  more  in  the  habit 
of  bringing  every  new  doctrine  to  them  as  its  touch- 
stone, there  would  be  less  currency  of  errors  and  firmer 
grip  of  truth. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS 

•Then  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of  Mars-hill,  and  said,  Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  per- 
ceive that  in  all  things  ye  are  too  superstitious.  23.  For  as  I  passed  by,  and  beheld 
your  devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscription.  To  the  Unknown  God. 
Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you,  24.  God,  that 
made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,  seeing  that  He  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands  ;  25.  Neither  is  worshipped  with  men's 
hands,  as  though  He  needed  any  thing,  seeing  He  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath,  and 
all  things ;  26.  And  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed,  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation  ;  27.  That  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might 
feel  after  Him,  and  find  Him,  though  He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us :  28.  For  in 
Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being ;  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have 
said.  For  we  are  also  His  offspring.  29.  Forasmuch  then  as  we  are  the  offspring  of 
God,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone, 
graven  by  art  and  man's  device.  30.  And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked 
at ;  but  now  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent :  31.  Because  he  hath 
appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that 
Man  whom  He  hath  ordained  ;  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in 
that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead.  32.  And  when  they  heard  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  some  mocked  :  and  others  said.  We  will  hear  thee  again  of 
this  matter.  33.  So  Paul  departed  from  among  them.  34.  Howbeit  certain  men 
clave  unto  him,  and  believed :  among  the  which  was  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
and  a  woman  named  Damaris,  and  others  with  them.'— Acts  xvii.  22-34. 

'I  AM  become  all  things  to  all  men,'  said  Paul,  and  his 
address  at  Athens  strikingly  exemplifies  that  principle  of 
his  action.  Contrast  it  with  his  speech  in  the  synagogue 
of  Pisidian  Antioch,  which  appeals  entirely  to  the  Old 
Testament,  and  is  saturated  with  Jewish  ideas,  or  with 
the  remonstrance  to  the  rude  Lycaonian  peasants  (Acts 
xiv.  15,  etc.),  which,  while  handling  some  of  the  same 
thoughts  as  at  Athens,  does  so  in  a  remarkably 
different  manner.  There  he  appealed  to  God's  gifts  of 
'rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons,'  the  things 
most  close  to  his  hearers'  experience ;  here,  speaking  to 
educated  '  philosophers,'  he  quotes  Greek  poetry,  and 
sets  forth  a  reasoned  declaration  of  the  nature  of  the 
Godhead  and  the  relations  of  a  philosophy  of  history 
and  an  argument  against  idolatry.  The  glories  of 
Greek  art  were  around  him;  the  statues  of  Pallas 
Athene  and  many  more  fair  creations  looked  down  on 
the  little  Jew  who  dared  to  proclaim  their  nullity  as 
representations  of  the  Godhead. 

138 


vs.  22-34]  PAUL  AT  ATHENS  139 

Paul's  flexibility  of  mind  and  power  of  adapting  him- 
self to  every  circumstance  were  never  more  strikingly 
shown  than  in  that  great  address  to  the  quick-witted 
Athenians.  It  falls  into  three  parts:  the  conciliatory 
prelade  (vers.  22,  23) ;  the  declaration  of  the  Unknown 
God  (vers.  24-29);  and  the  proclamation  of  the  God- 
ordained  Man  (vers.  30,  31). 

I.  We  have,  first,  the  conciliatory  prelude.  It  is 
always  a  mistake  for  the  apostle  of  a  new  truth  to 
begin  by  running  a  tilt  at  old  errors.  It  is  common 
sense  to  seek  to  find  some  point  in  the  present  beliefs 
of  his  hearers  to  which  his  message  may  attach  itself. 
An  orator  who  flatters  for  the  sake  of  securing  favour 
for  himself  is  despicable  ;  a  missionary  who  recognises 
the  truth  which  lies  under  the  system  which  he  seeks 
to  overthrow,  is  wise. 

It  is  incredible  that  Paul  should  have  begun  his 
speech  to  so  critical  an  audience  by  charging  them  with 
excessive  superstition,  as  the  Authorised  Version  makes 
him  do.  Nor  does  the  modified  translation  of  the 
Revised  Version  seem  to  be  precisely  what  is  meant. 
Paul  is  not  blaming  the  Athenians,  but  recording  a  fact 
which  he  had  noticed,  and  from  which  he  desired  to 
start.  Ramsay's  translation  gives  the  truer  notion  of 
his  meaning — '  more  than  others  respectful  of  what  is 
divine.'  'Superstition'  necessarily  conveys  a  sense  of 
blame,  but  the  word  in  the  original  does  not. 

We  can  see  Paul  as  a  stranger  wandering  through  the 
city,  and  noting  with  keen  eyes  every  token  of  the  all- 
pervading  idolatry.  He  does  not  tell  his  hearers  that 
his  spirit  burned  within  him  when  he  saw  the  city  full 
of  idols ;  but  he  smothers  all  that,  and  speaks  only  of 
the  inscription  which  he  had  noticed  on  one,  probably 
obscure  and  forgotten,  altar :    *  To  the  Unknown  God.' 


140  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xvii. 

Scholars  have  given  themselves  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
to  show  from  other  authors  that  there  were  such 
altars.  But  Paul  is  as  good  an^*  authority '  as  these, 
and  we  may  take  his  word  that  he  did  see  such  an 
inscription.  Whether  it  had  the  full  significance  which 
he  reads  into  it  or  not,  it  crystallised  in  an  express 
avowal  that  sense  of  Something  behind  and  above  the 
'  gods  many '  of  Greek  religion,  which  found  expression 
in  the  words  of  their  noblest  thinkers  and  poets,  and 
lay  like  a  nightmare  on  them. 

To  charge  an  Athenian  audience,  proud  of  their  know- 
ledge, with  ignorance,  was  a  hazardous  and  audacious 
undertaking ;  to  make  them  charge  themselves  was 
more  than  an  oratorical  device.  It  appealed  to  the 
deepest  consciousness  even  of  the  popular  mind.  Even 
with  this  prelude,  the  claims  of  this  wandering  Jew  to 
pose  as  the  instructor  of  Epicureans  and  Stoics,  and  to 
possess  a  knowledge  of  the  Divine  which  they  lacked, 
were  daring.  But  how  calmly  and  confidently  Paul 
makes  them,  and  with  what  easy  and  conciliatory 
adoption  of  their  own  terminology,  if  we  adopt  the 
reading  of  verse  23  in  Revised  Version  ('What  ye 
worship  .  .  .  this,'  etc.),  which  puts  forward  the  abstract 
conception  of  divinity  rather  than  the  personal  God. 

The  spirit  in  which  Paul  approached  his  difficult 
audience  teaches  all  Christian  missionaries  and  contro- 
versialists a  needed  and  neglected  lesson.  We  should 
accentuate  points  of  resemblance  rather  than  of 
difference,  to  begin  with.  We  should  not  run  a  tilt 
against  even  errors,  and  so  provoke  to  their  defence, 
but  rather  find  in  creeds  and  practices  an  ignorant 
groping  after,  and  so  a  door  of  entrance  for,  the  truth 
which  we  seek  to  recommend. 

II.  The  declaration  of  the  Unknown  God  has  been 


vs.  22-34]         PAUL  AT  ATHENS  141 

prepared  for,  and  now  follows,  and  with  it  is  bound  up 
a  polemic  against  idolatry.  Conciliation  is  not  to  be 
carried  so  far  as  to  hide  the  antagonism  between  the 
truth  and  error.  We  may  give  non-Christian  systems 
of  religion  credit  for  all  the  good  in  them,  but  we  are 
not  to  blink  their  contrariety  to  the  true  religion. 
Conciliation  and  controversy  are  both  needful ;  and  he 
is  the  best  Christian  teacher  who  has  mastered  the 
secret  of  the  due  proportion  between  them. 

Every  word  of  Paul's  proclamation  strikes  full  and 
square  at  some  counter  belief  of  his  hearers.  He  begins 
with  creation,  which  he  declares  to  have  been  the  act 
of  one  personal  God,  and  neither  of  a  multitude  of 
deities,  as  some  of  his  hearers  held,  nor  of  an 
impersonal  blind  power,  as  others  believed,  nor  the 
result  of  chance,  nor  eternal,  as  others  maintained. 
He  boldly  proclaims  there,  below  the  shadow  of  the 
Parthenon,  that  there  is  but  one  God, — the  universal 
Lord,  because  the  universal  Creator.  Many  con- 
sequences from  that  fact,  no  doubt,  crowded  into 
Paul's  mind ;  but  he  swiftly  turns  to  its  bearing  on  the 
pomp  of  temples  which  were  the  glory  of  Athens,  and 
the  multitude  of  sacrifices  which  he  had  beheld  on 
their  altars.  The  true  conception  of  God  as  the 
Creator  and  Lord  of  all  things  cuts  up  by  the  roots 
the  pagan  notions  of  temples  as  dwelling-places  of  a 
god  and  of  sacrifices  as  ministering  to  his  needs.  With 
one  crushing  blow  Paul  pulverises  the  fair  fanes 
around  him,  and  declares  that  sacrifice,  as  practised 
there,  contradicted  the  plain  truth  as  to  God's  nature. 
To  suppose  that  man  can  give  anything  to  Him,  or  that 
He  needs  anything,  is  absurd.  All  heathen  worship 
reverses  the  parts  of  God  and  man,  and  loses  sight  of 
the  fact  that  He  is  the  giver  continually  and  of  every- 


142  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xvii. 

thing.  Life  in  its  origination,  the  continuance  thereof 
(breath),  and  all  which  enriches  it,  are  from  Him.  Then 
true  worship  will  not  be  giving  to,  but  thankfully 
accepting  from  and  using  for.  Him,  His  manifold  gifts. 

So  Paul  declares  the  one  God  as  Creator  and 
Sustainer  of  all.  He  goes  on  to  sketch  in  broad  outline 
what  we  may  call  a  philosophy  of  history.  The 
declaration  of  the  unity  of  mankind  was  a  wholly 
strange  message  to  proud  Athenians,  who  believed 
themselves  to  be  a  race  apart,  not  only  from  the  '  bar- 
barians,' whom  all  Greeks  regarded  as  made  of  other 
clay  than  they,  but  from  the  rest  of  the  Greek  world. 
It  flatly  contradicted  one  of  their  most  cherished  prero- 
gatives. Not  only  does  Paul  claim  one  origin  for  all 
men,  but  he  regards  all  nations  as  equally  cared  for  by 
the  one  God,  His  hearers  believed  that  each  people 
had  its  own  patron  deities,  and  that  the  wars  of  nations 
were  the  wars  of  their  gods,  who  won  for  them  terri- 
tory, and  presided  over  their  national  fortunes.  To  all 
that  way  of  thinking  the  Apostle  opposes  the  con- 
ception, which  naturally  follows  from  his  fundamental 
declaration  of  the  one  Creator,  of  His  providential 
guidance  of  all  nations  in  regard  to  their  place  in  the 
world  and  the  epochs  of  their  history. 

But  he  rises  still  higher  when  he  declares  the  divine 
purpose  in  all  the  tangled  web  of  history — the  variety 
of  conditions  of  nations,  their  rise  and  fall,  their  glory 
and  decay,  their  planting  in  their  lands  and  their  root- 
ing out, — to  be  to  lead  all  men  to  '  seek  God.'  That  is 
the  deepest  meaning  of  history.  The  whole  course  of 
human  affairs  is  God's  drawing  men  to  Himself.  Not 
only  in  Judea,  nor  only  by  special  revelation,  but  by 
the  gifts  bestowed,  and  the  schooling  brought  to  bear 
on  every  nation.  He  would  stir  men  up  to  seek  for  Him. 


vs.  22-34]  PAUL  AT  ATHENS  143 

But  that  great  purpose  has  not  been  realised.  There 
is  a  tragic  •  if  haply '  inevitable ;  and  men  may  refuse 
to  yield  to  the  impulses  towards  God.  They  are  the 
more  likely  to  do  so,  inasmuch  as  to  find  Him  they  must 
'feel  after  Him,'  and  that  is  hard.  The  tendrils  of  a 
plant  turn  to  the  far-off  light,  but  men's  spirits  do  not 
thus  grope  after  God.  Something  has  come  in  the  way 
which  frustrates  the  divine  purpose,  and  makes  men 
blind  and  unwilling  to  seek  Him. 

Paul  does  not  at  once  draw  the  two  plain  inferences, 
that  there  must  be  something  more  than  the  nations 
have  had,  if  they  are  to  find  God,  even  His  seeking 
them  in  some  new  fashion  ;  and  that  the  power  which 
neutralises  God's  design  in  creation  and  providence  is 
sin.  He  has  a  word  to  say  about  both  these,  but  for 
the  moment  he  contents  himself  with  pointing  to  the 
fact,  attested  by  his  hearers'  consciousness,  and  by 
many  a  saying  of  thinkers  and  poets,  that  the  failure  to 
find  God  does  not  arise  from  His  hiding  Himself  in 
some  remote  obscurity.  Men  are  plunged,  as  it  were, 
in  the  ocean  of  God,  encompassed  by  Him  as  an  atmo- 
sphere, and — highest  thought  of  all,  and  not  strange  to 
Greek  thought  of  the  nobler  sort — kindred  with  Him  as 
both  drawing  life  from  Him  and  being  in  His  image. 
Whence,  then,  but  from  their  own  fault,  could  men 
have  failed  to  find  God  ?  If  He  is  '  unknown,'  it  is  not 
because  He  has  shrouded  Himself  in  darkness,  but 
because  they  do  not  love  the  light.  One  swift  glance 
at  the  folly  of  idolatry,  as  demonstrated  by  this  thought 
of  man's  being  the  offspring  of  God,  leads  naturally  to 
the  properly  Christian  conclusion  of  the  address. 

III.  It  is  probable  that  this  part  of  it  was  prematurely 
ended  by  the  mockery  of  some  and  the  impatience  of 
others,  who  had  had  enough  of  Paul  and  his  talk,  and 


144  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xvii 

who,  when  they  said,  'We  will  hear  thee  again,'  meant, 
*  We  will  not  hear  you  now.'  But,  even  in  the  compass 
permitted  him,  he  gives  much  of  his  message. 

We  can  but  briefly  note  the  course  of  thought.  He 
comes  back  to  his  former  word  '  ignorance,'  bitter  pill 
as  it  was  for  the  Athenian  cultured  class  to  swallow. 
He  has  shown  them  how  their  religion  ignores  or  con- 
tradicts the  true  conceptions  of  God  and  man.  But  he 
no  sooner  brings  the  charge  than  he  proclaims  God's 
forbearance.  And  he  no  sooner  proclaims  God's  for- 
bearance than  he  rises  to  the  full  height  of  his  mission 
as  God's  ambassador,  and  speaks  in  authoritative  tones, 
as  bearing  His  '  commands.' 

Now  the  hint  in  the  previous  part  is  made  more 
plain.  The  demand  for  repentance  implies  sin.  Then 
the  '  ignorance '  was  not  inevitable  or  innocent.  There 
was  an  element  of  guilt  in  m.en's  not  feeling  after  God, 
and  sin  is  universal,  for  'all  men  everywhere'  are 
summoned  to  repent.  Philosophers  and  artists,  and 
cultivated  triflers,  and  sincere  worshippers  of  Pallas  and 
Zeus,  and  all  '  barbarian '  people,  are  alike  here.  That 
would  grate  on  Athenian  pride,  as  it  grates  now  on 
ours.  The  reason  for  repentance  would  be  as  strange 
to  the  hearers  as  the  command  was — a  universal 
judgment,  of  which  the  principle  was  to  be  rigid 
righteousness,  and  the  Judge,  not  Minos  or  Rhada- 
manthus,  but '  a  Man '  ordained  for  that  function. 

What  raving  nonsense  that  would  appear  to  men 
who  had  largely  lost  the  belief  in  a  life  beyond  the 
grave !  The  universal  Judge  a  man  !  No  wonder  that 
the  quick  Athenian  sense  of  the  ridiculous  began  to 
rise  against  this  Jew  fanatic,  bringing  his  dreams 
among  cultured  people  like  them!  And  the  proof 
which  he  alleged  as  evidence  to  all  men  that  it  is  so, 


vs.  22-34]  THE  MAN  WHO  IS  JUDGE        145 

would  sound  even  more  ridiculous  than  the  assertion 
meant  to  be  proved.  '  A  man  has  been  raised  from  the 
dead;  and  this  anonymous  Man,  whom  nobody  ever 
heard  of  before,  and  who  is  no  doubt  one  of  the 
speaker's  countrymen,  is  to  judge  us,  Stoics,  Epi- 
cureans, polished  people,  and  we  are  to  be  herded  to 
His  bar  in  company  with  Boeotians  and  barbarians ! 
The  man  is  mad.' 

So  the  assembly  broke  up  in  inextinguishable  laugh- 
ter, and  Paul  silently  'departed  from  among  them,' 
having  never  named  the  name  of  Jesus  to  them.  He 
never  more  earnestly  tried  to  adapt  his  teaching  to  his 
audience ;  he  never  was  more  unsuccessful  in  his 
attempt  by  all  means  to  gain  some.  Was  it  a  remem- 
brance of  that  scene  in  Athens  that  made  him  write  to 
the  Corinthians  that  his  message  was  *to  the  Greeks 
foolishness '  ? 


THE  MAN  WHO  IS  JUDGE 

t  .  .  .  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  Man  whom  He  hath 
ordained ;  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  He  hath  raised 
Him  from  the  dead.'— Acts  xvii.  31. 

I.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  gives  assurance  of 
judgment. 

(a)  Christ's  Resurrection  is  the  pledge  of  ours. 

The  belief  in  a  future  life,  as  entertained  by  Paul's 
hearers  on  Mars  Hill,  was  shadowy  and  dashed  with 
much  unbelief.  Disembodied  spirits  wandered  ghost- 
like and  spectral  in  a  shadowy  underworld. 

The  belief  in  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  converts  the 
Greek  peradventure  into  a  fact.  It  gives  that  belief 
solidity  and  makes  it  easier  to  grasp  firmly.  Unless 
VOL.  II.  K 


146  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xvii. 

the  thought  of  a  future  life  is  completed  by  the  belief 
that  it  is  a  corporeal  life,  it  will  never  have  definiteness 
and  reality  enough  to  sustain  itself  as  a  counterpoise 
to  the  weight  of  things  seen. 

(b)  Resurrection  implies  judgment. 

A  future  bodily  life  affirms  individual  identity  as 
persisting  beyond  the  accident  of  death,  and  can  only 
be  conceived  of  as  a  state  in  which  the  earthly  life  is 
fully  developed  in  its  individual  results.  The  dead, 
who  are  raised,  are  raised  that  they  may  '  receive  the 
things  done  in  the  body,  according  to  that  they  have 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad.'  Historically,  the 
two  thoughts  have  always  gone  together ;  and  as  has 
been  the  clearness  with  which  a  resurrection  has  been 
held  as  certain,  so  has  been  the  force  with  which  the 
anticipation  of  judgment  to  come  has  impinged  on 
conscience. 

Jesus  is,  even  in  this  respect,  our  Example,  for  the 
glory  to  which  He  was  raised  and  in  which  He  reigns 
now  is  the  issue  of  His  earthly  life ;  and  in  His  Resur- 
rection and  Ascension  we  have  the  historical  fact  which 
certifies  to  all  men  that  a  life  of  self-sacrifice  here  will 
assuredly  flower  into  a  life  of  glory  there,  'Ours  the 
Cross,  the  grave,  the  skies.' 

II.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  gives  the  assurance 
that  He  is  Judge. 

The  bare  fact  that  He  is  risen  does  not  carry  that  assur- 
ance ;  we  have  to  take  into  account  that  He  has  risen. 

After  such  a  life. 

His  Resurrection  was  God's  setting  the  seal  of  His 
approval  and  acceptance  on  Christ's  work ;  His  endorse- 
ment of  Christ's  claims  to  special  relations  with  Him ; 
His  affirmation  of  Christ's  sinlessness.  Jesus  had  de- 
clared that  He  did  always  the  things  that  pleased  the 


V.31]        THE  MAN  WHO  IS  JUDGE         147 

Father ;  had  claimed  to  be  the  pure  and  perfect  reali- 
sation of  the  divine  ideal  of  manhood ;  had  presented 
Himself  as  the  legitimate  object  of  utter  devotion  and 
of  religious  trust,  love,  and  obedience,  and  as  the  only- 
way  to  God,  Men  said  that  He  was  a  blasphemer ; 
God  said,  and  said  most  emphatically,  by  raising  Him 
from  the  dead:  'This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased.' 

With  such  a  sequel. 

'  Christ  being  raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more,' 
and  that  fact  sets  Him  apart  from  others  who,  according 
to  Scripture,  have  been  raised.  His  resurrection  is,  if 
we  may  use  such  a  figure,  a  point ;  His  Ascension  and 
Session  at  the  right  hand  of  God  are  the  line  into 
which  the  point  is  prolonged.  And  from  both  the  point 
and  the  line  come  the  assurance  that  He  is  the  Judge. 

III.  The  risen  Jesus  is  Judge  because  He  is  Man. 

That  seems  a  paradox.  It  is  a  commonplace  that  we 
are  incompetent  to  judge  another,  for  human  eyes 
cannot  read  the  secrets  of  a  human  heart,  and  we 
can  only  surmise,  not  know,  each  other's  motives, 
which  are  the  all-important  part  of  our  deeds.  But 
when  we  rightly  understand  Christ's  human  nature, 
we  understand  how  fitted  He  is  to  be  our  Judge,  and 
how  blessed  it  is  to  think  of  Him  as  such.  Paul  tells 
the  Athenians  with  deep  significance  that  He  who  is  to 
be  their  and  the  world's  Judge  is  '  the  Man.'  He  sums 
up  human  nature  in  Himself,  He  is  the  ideal  and  the 
real  Man. 

And  further,  Paul  tells  his  hearers  that  God  judges 
•through'  Him,  and  does  so  'in  righteousness.'  He 
is  fitted  to  be  our  Judge,  because  He  perfectly  and 
completely  bears  our  nature,  knows  by  experience  all 
its  weaknesses  and  windings,  as  from  the  inside,  so 


148         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xvui. 

to  speak,  and  is  'wondrous  kind'  with  the  kindness 
which  'fellow-feeling'  enkindles.  He  knows  us  with  the 
knowledge  of  a  God ;  He  knows  us  with  the  sympathy 
of  a  brother. 

The  Man  who  has  died  for  all  men  thereby  becomes 
the  Judge  of  all.  Even  in  this  life,  Jesus  and  His 
Cross  judge  us.  Our  disposition  towards  Him  is  the 
test  of  our  whole  character.  By  their  attitude  to  Him, 
the  thoughts  of  many  hearts  are  revealed.  'What 
think  ye  of  Christ?'  is  the  question,  the  answer  to 
which  determines  our  fate,  because  it  reveals  our 
inmost  selves  and  their  capacities  for  receiving  blessing 
or  harm  from  God  and  His  mercy.  Jesus  Himself  has 
taught  us  that '  in  that  day '  the  condition  of  entrance 
into  the  Kingdom  is  '  doing  the  will  of  My  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.'  He  has  also  taught  us  that '  this  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath 
sent.'  Faith  in  Jesus  as  our  Saviour  is  the  root  from 
which  will  grow  the  good  tree  which  will  bring  forth 
good  fruit,  bearing  which  our  love  will  be  '  made  perfect, 
that  we  may  have  boldness  before  Him  in  the  day  of 
judgment.' 

PAUL  AT  CORINTH 

'  After  these  things  Paul  departed  from  Athens,  and  came  to  Corinth ;  2.  And 
found  a  certain  Jew  named  Aquila,  born  in  Pontus,  lately  come  from  Italy,  with 
his  wife  Priscilla ;  (because  that  Claudius  had  commanded  all  Jews  to  depart  from 
Rome:)  and  came  unto  them.  3.  And  because  he  was  of  the  same  craft,  he  abode 
with  them,  and  wrought:  for  by  their  occupation  they  were  tent-maliers.  i.  And 
he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  sabbath,  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  the 
Greeks.  5.  And  when  Silas  and  Timotheus  were  come  from  Macedonia,  Paul  was 
pressed  in  the  spirit,  and  testified  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  Christ.  6.  And 
when  they  opposed  themselves,  and  blasphemed,  he  shook  his  raiment,  and  said 
unto  them.  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads;  I  am  clean:  from  henceforth 
I  will  go  unto  the  Gentiles.  7.  And  he  departed  thence,  and  entered  into  a  certain 
man's  house,  named  Justus,  one  that  worshipped  God,  whose  house  joined  hard 
to  the  synagogue.  8.  And  Crispus,  the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  believed  on 
the  Lord  with  all  his  house ;  and  many  of  the  Corinthians  hearing  believed,  and 
vrere  baptized.  9.  Then  spake  the  Lord  to  Paul  in  the  night  by  a  vision.  Be  not 
afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace :    10.  For  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man 


vs.  1-11]  PAUL  AT  CORINTH  149 

shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee :  for  I  have  nmch  people  in  this  city.  11.  And  he 
continued  there  a  year  and  six  months,  teaching  the  word  of  God  among  them.' 
—Acts  xviii.  1-11. 

Solitude  is  a  hard  trial  for  sensitive  natures,  and  tends 
to  weaken  their  power  of  work.  Paul  was  entirely 
alone  in  Athens,  and  appears  to  have  cut  his  stay 
there  short,  since  his  two  companions,  who  were  to 
have  joined  him  in  that  city,  did  not  do  so  till  after  he 
had  been  some  time  in  Corinth.  His  long  stay  there 
has  several  well-marked  stages,  which  yield  valuable 
lessons. 

I.  First,  we  note  the  solitary  Apostle,  seeking  friends, 
toiling  for  bread,  and  withal  preaching  Christ.  Corinth 
was  a  centre  of  commerce,  of  wealth,  and  of  moral 
corruption.  The  celebrated  local  worship  of  Aphrodite 
fed  the  corruption  as  well  as  the  wealth.  The  Apostle 
met  there  with  a  new  phase  of  Greek  life,  no  less 
formidable  in  antagonism  to  the  Gospel  than  the 
culture  of  Athens.  He  tells  us  that  he  entered  on 
his  work  in  Corinth  *  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in 
much  trembling,'  but  also  that  he  did  not  try  to  attract 
by  adaptation  of  his  words  to  the  prevailing  tastes 
either  of  Greek  or  Jew,  but  preached  'Jesus  Christ, 
and  Him  crucified,'  knowing  that,  while  that  appeared 
to  go  right  in  the  teeth  of  the  demands  of  both,  it 
really  met  their  wants.  This  ministry  was  begun,  in 
his  usual  fashion,  very  unobtrusively  and  quietly.  His 
first  care  was  to  find  a  home ;  his  second,  to  provide 
his  daily  bread;  and  then  he  was  free  to  take  the 
Sabbath  for  Christian  work  in  the  synagogue. 

We  cannot  tell  whether  he  had  had  any  previous 
acquaintance  with  Aquila  and  his  wife,  nor  indeed  is  it 
certain  that  they  had  previously  been  Christians.  Paul's 
reason  for  living  with  them  was  simply  the  convenience 
of  getting  work  at  his  trade,  and  it  seems  probable  that, 


150  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

if  they  had  been  disciples,  that  fact  would  have  been 
named  as  part  of  his  reason.  Pontus  lay  to  the  north 
of  Cilicia,  and  though  widely  separated  from  it,  was 
near  enough  to  make  a  kind  of  bond  as  of  fellow- 
countrymen,  which  would  be  the  stronger  because  they 
had  the  same  craft  at  their  finger-ends. 

It  was  the  wholesome  practice  for  every  Rabbi  to 
learn  some  trade.  If  all  graduates  had  to  do  the  same 
now  there  would  be  fewer  educated  idlers,  who  are 
dangerous  to  society  and  burdens  to  themselves  and 
their  friends.  What  a  curl  of  contempt  would  have 
lifted  the  lips  of  the  rich  men  of  Corinth  if  they  had 
been  told  that  the  greatest  man  in  their  city  was  that 
little  Jew  tent-maker,  and  that  in  this  unostentatious 
fashion  he  had  begun  to  preach  truths  which  would 
be  like  a  charge  of  dynamite  to  all  their  social  and 
religious  order !    True  zeal  can  be  patiently  silent. 

Sewing  rough  goat's-hair  cloth  into  tents  may  be 
as  truly  serving  Christ  as  preaching  His  name.  All 
manner  of  work  that  contributes  to  the  same  end  is 
the  same  in  worth  and  in  recompense.  Perhaps  the 
wholesomest  form  of  Christian  ministry  is  that  after 
the  Apostolic  pattern,  when  the  teacher  can  say,  as 
Paul  did  to  the  people  of  Corinth, '  When  I  was  present 
with  you  and  was  in  want,  I  was  not  a  burden  on 
any  man.'  If  not  in  letter,  at  any  rate  in  spirit,  his 
example  must  be  followed.  If  the  preacher  would  win 
souls  he  must  be  free  from  any  taint  of  suspicion  as  to 
money. 

II.  The  second  stage  in  Paul's  Corinthian  residence 
is  the  increased  activity  when  his  friends,  Silas  and 
Timothy,  came  from  Beroea.  We  learn  from  Philippians 
iv.  15,  and  2  Corinthians  xi.  9,  that  they  brought  gifts 
from  the  Church  at  Philippi ;  nxxd  from  1  Thessalonians 


vs.  Ml]  PAUL  AT  CORINTH  151 

iii.  6,  that  they  brought  something  still  more  gladdening 
namely,  good,  acjounts  of  the  steadfastness  of  the 
Thessalonian  ronrerts.  The  money  would  make  it  less 
necessary  to  spend  most  of  the  week  in  manual  labour ; 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  Thessalonians'  '  faith  and  love ' 
did  bring  fresh  life,  and  the  presence  of  his  helpers 
would  cheer  him.  So  a  period  of  enlarged  activity 
followed  their  coming. 

The  reading  of  verse  5,  'Paul  was  constrained  by 
the  word,'  brings  out  strikingly  the  Christian  impulse 
which  makes  speech  of  the  Gospel  a  necessity.  The  force 
of  that  impulse  may  vary,  as  it  did  with  Paul ;  but  if 
we  have  any  'Jeep  possession  of  the  grace  of  God  for 
ourselves,  wc  shall,  like  him,  feel  it  pressing  us  for 
utterance,  as  soon  as  the  need  of  providing  daily  bread 
becomes  less  stringent  and  our  hearts  are  gladdened  by 
Christian  communion.  It  augurs  ill  for  a  man's  hold  of 
the  word  if  the  word  does  not  hold  him.  He  who  never 
felt  that  he  was  weary  of  forbearing,  and  that  the  word 
was  like  a  fire,  if  it  was  *  shut  up  in  his  bones,'  has  need 
to  ask  himself  if  he  has  any  belief  in  the  Gospel.  The 
craving  to  impart  ever  accompanies  real  possession. 

The  Apostle's  solemn  symbolism,  announcing  his 
cessation  of  efforts  among  the  Jews,  has  of  course 
reference  only  to  Corinth,  for  we  find  him  in  his 
subsequent  ministry  adhering  to  his  method,  '  to  the 
Jew  first.'  It  is  a  great  part  of  Christian  wisdom  in 
evangelical  work  to  recognise  the  right  time  to  give 
up  efforts  which  have  been  fruitless.  Much  strength 
is  wasted,  and  many  hearts  depressed,  by  obstinate 
continuance  in  such  methods  or  on  such  fields  as  have 
cost  much  effort  and  yielded  no  fruit.  We  often  call 
it  faith,  when  it  is  only  pride,  which  prevents  the 
acknowledgment  of  failure.    Better  to  learn  the  lessons 


152          ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviil 

taught  by  Providence,  and  to  try  a  new  *  claim,'  than  to 
keep  on  digging  and  washing  when  we  only  find  sand  and 
mud.  God  teaches  us  by  failures  as  well  as  by  successes. 
Let  us  not  be  too  conceited  to  learn  the  lesson  or  to 
confess  defeat,  and  shift  our  ground  accordingly. 

It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  say  'I  am  clean.'  We  need 
to  have  been  very  diligent,  very  loving,  very  prayerful 
to  Grod,  and  very  persuasive  in  pleading  with  men, 
before  we  dare  to  roll  all  the  blame  of  their  condem- 
nation on  themselves.  But  we  have  no  right  to  say, 
'  Henceforth  I  go  to '  others,  until  we  can  say  that  we 
have  done  all  that  man — or,  at  any  rate,  that  we — can 
do  to  avert  the  doom. 

Paul  did  not  go  so  far  away  but  that  any  whose 
hearts  God  had  touched  could  easily  find  him.  It  was 
with  a  lingering  eye  to  his  countrymen  that  he  took 
up  his  abode  in  the  house  of  'one  that  feared  God,' 
that  is,  a  proselyte;  and  that  he  settled  down  next 
door  to  the  synagogue.  What  a  glimpse  of  yearning 
love  which  cannot  bear  to  give  Israel  up  as  hopeless, 
that  simple  detail  gives  us !  And  may  we  not  say  that 
the  yearning  of  the  servant  is  caught  from  the  example 
of  the  Master  ?  '  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ? ' 
Does  not  Christ,  in  His  long-suffering  love,  linger  in 
like  manner  round  each  closed  heart  ?  and  if  He  with- 
draws a  little  way,  does  He  not  do  so  rather  to  stimulate 
search  after  Him,  and  tarry  near  enough  to  be  found 
by  every  seeking  heart  ? 

Paul's  purpose  in  his  solemn  warning  to  the  Jews 
of  Corinth  was  partly  accomplished.  The  ruler  of  the 
synagogue  'believed  in  the  Lord  with  all  his  house.' 
Thus  men  are  sometimes  brought  to  decision  for  Christ 
by  the  apparently  impending  possibility  of  His  Gospel 
leaving  them  to  themselves.    'Blessings  brighten  as 


vs.  1-11]  PAUL  AT  CORINTH  153 

they  take  their  flight.'  Severity  sometimes  effects 
what  forbearance  fails  to  achieve.  If  the  train  is  on 
the  point  of  starting,  the  hesitating  passenger  will 
swiftly  make  up  his  mind  and  rush  for  a  seat.  It 
is  permissible  to  press  for  immediate  decision  on  the 
ground  that  the  time  is  short,  and  that  soon  these 
things  '  will  be  hid  from  the  eyes.' 

We  learn  from  1  Corinthians  i.  14,  that  Paul  deviated 
from  his  usual  practice,  and  himself  baptized  Crispus. 
We  may  be  very  sure  that  his  doing  so  arose  from  no 
unworthy  subserviency  to  an  important  convert,  but 
indicated  how  deeply  grateful  he  was  to  the  Lord  for 
giving  him,  as  a  seal  to  a  ministry  which  had  seemed 
barren,  so  encouraging  a  token.  The  opposition  and 
blasphemy  of  many  are  outweighed,  to  a  true  evan- 
gelist, by  the  conversion  of  one;  and  while  all  souls 
are  in  one  aspect  equally  valuable,  they  are  unequal 
in  the  influence  which  they  may  exert  on  others.  So 
it  was  with  Crispus,  for  'many  of  the  Corinthians 
hearing '  of  such  a  signal  fact  as  the  conversion  of  the 
chief  of  the  synagogue,  likewise  'believed.'  We  may 
distinguish  in  our  estimate  of  the  value  of  converts, 
without  being  untrue  to  the  great  principle  that  all 
men  are  equally  precious  in  Christ's  eyes. 

III.  The  next  stage  is  the  vision  to  Paul  and  his  con- 
sequent protracted  residence  in  Corinth.  God  does  not 
waste  visions,  nor  bid  men  put  away  fears  which  are 
not  haunting  them.  This  vision  enables  us  to  conceive 
Paul's  state  of  mind  when  it  can^e  to  him.  He  was  for 
some  reason  cast  down.  He  had  not  been  so  when 
things  looked  much  more  hopeless.  But  though  now 
he  had  his  friends  and  many  converts,  some  mood  of 
sadness  crept  over  him.  Men  like  him  are  often  swayed 
by  impulses  rising  within,  and  quite  apart  from  out- 


154  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

ward  circumstances.  Possibly  he  had  reason  to  appre- 
hend that  his  very  success  had  sharpened  hostility,  and 
to  anticipate  danger  to  life.  The  contents  of  the 
vision  make  this  not  improbable. 

But  the  mere  calming  of  fear,  worthy  object  as  it  is, 
is  by  no  means  the  main  part  of  the  message  of  the 
vision.  '  Speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace,'  is  its  central 
word.  Fear  which  makes  a  Christian  dumb  is  always 
cowardly,  and  always  exaggerated.  Speech  which 
comes  from  trembling  lips  may  be  very  powerful, 
and  there  is  no  better  remedy  for  terror  than  work 
for  Christ.  If  we  screw  ourselves  up  to  do  what  we 
fear  to  do,  the  dread  vanishes,  as  a  bather  recovers 
himself  as  soon  as  his  head  has  once  been  under  water. 

Why  was  Paul  not  to  be  afraid  ?  It  is  easy  to  say, 
'  Fear  not,'  but  unless  the  exhortation  is  accompanied 
with  some  good  reason  shown,  it  is  wasted  breath. 
Paul  got  a  truth  put  into  his  heart  which  ends  all 
fear — '  For  I  am  with  thee.'  Surely  that  is  enough  to 
exorcise  all  demons  of  cowardice  or  despondency,  and 
it  is  the  assurance  that  all  Christ's  servants  may  lay 
up  in  their  hearts,  for  use  at  all  moments  and  in  all 
moods.  His  presence,  in  no  metaphor,  but  in  deepest 
inmost  reality,  is  theirs,  and  whether  their  fears  come 
fromi  without  or  within.  His  presence  is  more  than 
enough  to  make  them  brave  and  strong. 

Paul  needed  a  vision,  for  Paul  had  never  seen  Christ 
*  after  the  flesh,'  nor  heard  His  parting  promise.  We  do 
not  need  it,  for  we  have  the  unalterable  word,  which 
He  left  with  all  His  disciples  when  He  ascended,  and 
which  remains  true  to  the  ends  of  the  world  and  till 
the  world  ends. 

The  consequence  of  Christ's  presence  is  not  exemption 
from  attacks,  but  preservation  in  them.    Men  may  *  set 


vs.1-11]  'CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD'  155 

on '  Paul,  but  they  cannot  '  hurt '  him.  The  promise  was 
literally  fulfilled  when  the  would-be  accusers  were 
contemptuously  sent  away  by  Gallio,  the  embodiment 
of  Roman  even-handedness  and  despising  of  the  deepest 
things.  It  is  fulfilled  no  less  truly  to-day ;  for  no  hurt 
can  come  to  us  if  Christ  is  with  us,  and  whatever  does 
come  is  not  hurt. 

'I  have  much  people  in  this  city.'  Jesus  saw  what 
Paul  did  not,  the  souls  yet  to  be  won  for  Him.  That 
loving  Eye  gladly  beholds  His  own  sheep,  though  they 
may  be  yet  in  danger  of  the  wolves,  and  far  from  the 
Shepherd.  'Them  also  He  must  bring';  and  His  servants 
are  wise  if,  in  all  their  labours,  they  cherish  the  courage 
that  comes  from  the  consciousness  of  His  presence,  and 
the  unquenchable  hope,  which  sees  in  the  most  de- 
graded and  alienated  those  whom  the  Good  Shepherd 
will  yet  find  in  the  wilderness  and  bear  back  to  the 
fold.  Such  a  hope  will  quicken  them  for  all  service, 
and  such  a  vision  will  embolden  them  in  all  peril. 


'CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD' 

'  And  when  Silas  and  Timotheus  were  come  from  Macedonia,  Paul  was  pressed 

in  the  spirit,  and  testified.'— Acts  xviii.  5. 

The  Revised  Version,  in  concurrence  with  most  recent 
authorities,  reads,  instead  of  '  pressed  in  the  spirit,' 
'  constrained  by  the  word.'  One  of  these  alterations 
depends  on  a  diversity  of  reading,  the  other  on  a 
difference  of  translation.  The  one  introduces  a  signifi- 
cant difference  of  meaning;  the  other  is  rather  a 
change  of  expression.  The  word  rendered  here 
•  pressed,'  and  by  the  Revised  Version  '  constrained,' 
is  employed  in  its  literal  use  in  '  Master,  the  multitude 
throng  Thee  and  press  Thee,'  and  in  its  metaphorical 


156  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xviil 

application  in  ' The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us' 
There  is  not  much  difference  between  '  constrained ' 
and  '  pressed,'  but  there  is  a  large  difference  between 
•in  the  spirit'  and  'by  the  word.'  'Pressed  in  the 
spirit '  simply  describes  a  state  of  feeling  or  mind ; 
'  constrained  by  the  word '  declares  the  force  which 
brought  about  that  condition  of  pressure  or  con- 
straint. What  then  does  '  constrained  by  the  word ' 
refer  to  ?  It  indicates  that  Paul's  message  had  a  grip 
of  him,  and  held  him  hard,  and  forced  him  to 
deliver  it. 

One  more  preliminary  remark  is  that  our  text 
evidently  brings  this  state  of  mind  of  the  Apostle,  and 
the  coming  of  his  two  friends  Silas  and  Timothy,  into 
relation  as  cause  and  effect.  He  had  been  alone  in 
Corinth.  His  work  of  late  had  not  been  encouraging. 
He  had  been  comparatively  silent  there,  and  had  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  tent-making.  But  when  his  two 
friends  came  a  cloud  was  lifted  off  his  spirit,  and  he 
sprang  back  again,  as  it  were,  to  his  old  form  and  to 
his  old  work. 

Now  if  we  take  that  point  of  view  with  regard  to 
the  passage  before  us,  I  think  we  shall  find  that  it 
yields  valuable  lessons,  some  of  which  I  wish  .to  try 
to  enforce  now. 

I.  Let  me  ask  you  to  look  with  me  at  the  downcast 
Apostle. 

'  Downcast,'  you  say ;  '  is  not  that  an  unworthy  word 
to  use  about  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  inspired  as  Paul 
was?'  By  no  means.  We  shall  very  much  mistake 
both  the  nature  of  inspiration  and  the  character  of  this 
inspired  Apostle,  if  we  do  not  recognise  that  he  was  a 
man  of  many  moods  and  tremulously  susceptible  to 
external  influences.      Such  music  would  never   have 


V.5]    'CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD'    157 

come  from  him  if  his  soul  had  not  been  like  an  ^Eolian 
harp,  hung  in  a  tree  and  vibrating  in  response  to  every 
breeze.  And  so  we  need  not  hesitate  to  speak  of  the 
Apostle's  mood,  as  revealed  to  us  in  the  passage  before 
us,  as  being  dovrncast. 

Now  notice  that  in  the  verses  preceding  my  text  his 
conduct  is  extremely  abnormal  and  unlike  his  usual 
procedure.  He  goes  into  Corinth,  and  he  does  next  to 
nothing  in  evangelistic  work.  He  repairs  to  the  syna- 
gogue once  a  week,  and  talks  to  the  Jews  there.  But  that 
is  all.  The  notice  of  his  reasoning  in  the  synagogue  is 
quite  subordinate  to  the  notice  that  he  was  occupied 
in  finding  a  lodging  with  another  pauper  Jew  and 
stranger  in  the  great  city,  and  that  these  two  poor 
men  went  into  a  kind  of  partnership,  and  tried  to  earn 
a  living  by  hard  work.  Such  procedure  makes  a 
singular  contrast  to  Paul's  usual  methods  in  a  strange 
city. 

Now  the  reason  for  that  slackening  of  impulse  and 
comparative  cessation  of  activity  is  not  far  to  seek. 
The  first  Epistle  to  Thessalonica  was  written  immedi- 
ately after  these  two  brethren  rejoined  Paul.  And 
how  does  the  Apostle  describe  in  that  letter  his  feelings 
before  they  came  ?  He  speaks  of  '  all  our  distress  and 
affliction.'  He  tells  that  he  was  tortured  by  anxiety 
as  to  how  the  new  converts  in  Thessalonica  were 
getting  on,  and  could  not  forbear  to  try  to  find  out 
whether  they  were  still  standing  steadfast.  Again  in 
the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  you  will  find  that 
there,  looking  back  to  this  period,  he  describes  his 
feelings  in  similar  fashion  and  says :  *  I  was  with 
you  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling.' 
And  if  you  look  forward  a  verse  or  two  in  our  chapter 
you  will  see  that  a  vision  came  to  Paul,  which  pre- 


158  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

supposes  that  some  touch  of  fear,  and  some  temp- 
tation to  silence,  were  busy  in  his  heart.  For  God 
shapes  His  communications  according  to  our  need,  and 
would  not  have  said,  '  Do  not  be  afraid,  and  hold  not 
thy  peace,  but  speak,'  unless  there  had  been  a  danger 
both  of  Paul's  being  frightened  and  of  his  being  dumb. 

And  what  thus  brought  a  cloud  over  his  sky?  A 
little  exercise  of  historical  imagination  will  very  suffi- 
ciently answer  that.  A  few  weeks  before,  in  obedience, 
as  he  believed,  to  a  direct  divine  command,  Paul  had 
made  a  plunge,  and  ventured  upon  an  altogether  new 
phase  of  work.  He  had  crossed  into  Europe,  and  from 
the  moment  that  he  landed  at  the  harbour  of  Philippi, 
up  to  the  time  when  he  took  refuge  in  some  quiet  little 
room  in  Corinth,  he  had  had  nothing  but  trouble  and 
danger  and  disappointment.  The  prison  at  Philippi, 
the  riots  that  hounded  him  out  of  Thcssalonica,  the 
stealthy,  hurried  escape  from  Beroea,  the  almost  entire 
failure  of  his  first  attempt  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
Greeks  in  Athens,  his  loneliness,  and  the  strangeness 
of  his  surroundings  in  the  luxurious,  wicked,  wealthy 
Greek  city  of  Corinth — all  these  things  weighed  on 
him,  and  there  is  no  wonder  that  his  spirits  went  down, 
and  he  felt  that  now  he  must  lie  fallow  for  a  time  and 
rest,  and  pull  himself  together  again. 

So  here  we  have,  in  this  great  champion  of  the  faith, 
in  this  strong  runner  of  the  Christian  race,  in  this  chief 
of  men,  an  example  of  the  fluctuation  of  mood,  the 
variation  in  the  way  in  which  we  look  at  our  duties 
and  our  obligations  and  our  difficulties,  the  slackening 
of  the  impulse  which  dominates  our  lives,  that  are  too 
familiar  to  us  all.  It  brings  Paul  nearer  us  to  feel  that 
he,  too,  knew  these  ups  and  downs.  The  force  that 
drove  this  meteor  through  the  darkness  varied,  as  the 


V.5]    *  CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD'   159 

force  that  impels  us  varies  to  our  consciousness.  It 
is  the  prerogative  of  God  to  be  immutable  ;  men  have 
their  moods  and  their  fluctuations.  Kindled  lights 
flicker ;  the  sun  burns  steadily.  An  Elijah  to-day- 
beards  Ahab  and  Jezebel  and  all  their  priests,  and 
to-morrov7  hides  his  head  in  his  hands,  and  says, '  Take 
me  away,  I  am  not  better  than  my  fathers.'  There  will 
be  ups  and  down  in  the  Christian  vigour  of  our  lives, 
as  well  as  in  all  other  regions,  so  long  as  men  dwell 
in  this  material  body  and  are  surrounded  by  their 
present  circumstances. 

Brethren,  it  is  no  small  part  of  Christian  wisdom  and 
prudence  to  recognise  this  fact,  both  in  order  that  it 
may  prevent  us  from  becoming  unduly  doubtful  of 
ourselves  when  the  ebb  tide  sets  in  on  our  souls,  and 
also  in  order  that  we  may  lay  to  heart  this  other 
truth,  that  because  these  moods  and  changes  of  aspect 
and  of  vigour  ivill  come  to  us,  therefore  the  law  of  life 
must  be  effort,  and  the  duty  of  every  Christian  man 
be  to  minimise,  in  so  far  as  possible,  the  fluctuations 
which,  in  some  degree,  are  inevitable.  No  human  hand 
has  ever  drawn  an  absolutely  straight  line.  That  is 
the  ideal  of  the  mathematician,  but  all  ours  are 
crooked.  But  we  may  indefinitely  diminish  the 
magnitude  of  the  curves.  No  two  atoms  are  so  close 
together  as  that  there  is  no  film  between  them.  No 
human  life  has  ever  been  an  absolutely  continuous, 
unbroken  series  of  equally  holy  and  devoted  thoughts 
and  acts,  but  we  may  diminish  the  intervals  between 
kindred  states,  and  may  make  our  lives  so  far  uniform 
as  that  to  a  bystander  they  shall  look  like  the  bright 
circle,  which  a  brand  whirled  round  in  the  air  makes 
the  impression  of,  on  the  eye  that  beholds.  We  shall 
have    times    of  brightness  and  of  less  brilliancy,   of 


160         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

vigour  and  of  consequent  reaction  and  exhaustion. 
But  Christianity  has,  for  one  of  its  objects,  to  help  us 
to  master  our  moods,  and  to  bring  us  nearer  and 
nearer,  by  continual  growth,  to  the  steadfast,  unmov- 
able  attitude  of  those  whose  faith  is  ever  the 
same. 

Do  not  forget  the  plain  lesson  which  comes  from  the 
incident  before  us — viz.,  that  the  wisest  thing  that  a 
man  can  do,  when  he  feels  that  the  wheels  of  his 
religious  being  are  driving  heavily,  is  to  set  himself 
doggedly  to  the  plain,  homely  work  of  daily  life.  Paul 
did  not  sit  and  bemoan  himself  because  he  felt  this 
slackening  of  impulse,  but  he  went  away  to  Aquila, 
and  said,  '  Let  us  set  to  work  and  make  camel's-hair 
cloth  and  tents.'  Be  thankful  for  your  homely,  pro- 
saic, secular,  daily  task.  You  do  not  know  from  how 
many  sickly  fancies  it  saves  you,  and  how  many 
breaches  in  the  continuity  of  your  Christian  feeling 
it  may  bridge  over.  It  takes  you  away  from  thinking 
about  yourselves,  and  sometimes  you  cannot  think 
about  anything  less  profitably.  So  stick  to  your 
work ;  and  if  ever  you  feel,  as  Paul  did,  '  cast  down,' 
be  sure  that  the  workshop,  the  office,  the  desk,  the 
kitchen  will  prevent  you  from  being  '  destroyed,'  if 
you  give  yourselves  to  the  plain  duties  which  no  moods 
alter,  but  which  can  alter  a  great  many  moods. 
II.  And  now  note  the  '  constraining  word.' 
I  have  already  said  that  the  return  of  the  two, 
who  had  been  sent  to  see  how  things  were  going 
with  the  recent  converts  in  the  infant  Churches, 
brought  the  Apostle  good  tidings,  and  so  lifted  off 
a  great  load  of  anxiety  from  his  heart.  No  wonder! 
He  had  left  raw  recruits  under  fire,  with  no  captain, 
and  he  might  well  doubt  whether  they  would   keep 


V.5]  'CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD'  161 

their  ranks.  But  they  did.  So  the  pressure  was  lifted 
off,  and  the  pressure  being  lifted  off,  spontaneously 
the  old  impulse  gripped  him  once  more ;  like  a  spring 
which  leaps  back  to  its  ancient  curve  when  some  alien 
force  is  taken  from  it.  It  must  have  been  a  very  deep 
and  a  very  habitual  impulse,  which  thus  instantly 
reasserted  itself  the  moment  that  the  pressure  of 
anxiety  was  taken  out  of  the  way. 

The  word  constrained  him.  What  to  do  ?  To  declare 
it.  Paul's  example  brings  up  two  thoughts — that  that 
impulse  may  vary  at  times,  according  to  the  pressure 
of  circumstances,  and  may  even  be  held  in  abeyance 
for  a  while ;  and  that  if  a  man  is  honestly  and  really 
a  Christian,  as  soon  as  the  incumbent  pressure  is  taken 
away,  he  will  feel, '  Necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  yea,  woe 
is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel.'  For  though  Paul's 
sphere  of  work  was  different  from  ours,  his  obligation 
to  work  and  his  impulse  to  work  were  such  as  are,  or 
should  be,  common  to  all  Christians.  The  impulse  to 
utter  the  word  that  we  believe  and  live  by  seems  to 
me  to  be,  in  its  very  nature,  inseparable  from  earnest 
Christian  faith.  All  emotion  demands  expression ;  and 
if  a  man  has  never  felt  that  he  must  let  his  Christian 
faith  have  vent,  it  is  a  very  bad  sign.  As  certainly 
as  fermentation  or  effervescence  demands  outgush,  so 
certainly  does  emotion  demand  expression.  We  all 
know  that.  The  same  impulse  that  makes  a  mother 
bend  over  her  babe  with  unmeaning  words  and  tokens 
that  seem  to  unsympathetic  onlookers  foolish,  ought 
to  influence  all  Christians  to  speak  the  Name  they  love. 
All  conviction  demands  expression.  There  may  be 
truths  which  have  so  little  bearing  upon  human  life 
that  he  who  perceives  them  feels  little  obligation  to 
say  anything  about  them.    But  these  are  the  excep- 

VOL.  II.  I4 


162  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

tions;  and  the  more  weighty  and  the  more  closely 
affecting  human  interests  anything  that  we  have 
learned  to  believe  as  truth  is,  the  more  do  we  feel  in 
our  hearts  that,  in  making  us  its  believers,  it  has  made 
us  its  apostles.  Christ's  saying,  '  What  ye  hear  in  the 
ear,  that  preach  ye  on  the  housetops,'  expresses  a 
universal  truth  which  is  realised  in  many  regions,  and 
ought  to  be  most  emphatically  realised  in  the  Christian. 
For  surely  of  all  the  truths  that  men  can  catch  a 
glimpse  of,  or  grapple  to  their  hearts,  or  store  in  their 
understandings,  there  are  none  which  bring  with  them 
such  tremendous  consequences,  and  therefore  are  of 
so  solemn  import  to  proclaim  to  all  the  children  of 
men,  as  the  truth,  which  we  profess  we  have  received, 
of  personal  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ. 

If  there  never  had  been  a  single  commandment  to  that 
effect,  I  know  not  how  the  Christian  Church  or  the 
Christian  individual  could  have  abstained  from  declar- 
ing the  great  and  sweet  Name  to  which  it  and  he  owe 
so  much.  I  do  not  care  to  present  this  matter  as  a 
commandment,  nor  to  speak  now  of  obligation  or  re- 
sponsibility. The  impulse  is  what  I  would  fix  your 
attention  upon.  It  is  inseparable  from  the  Christian 
life.  It  may  vary  in  force,  as  we  see  in  the  incident 
before  us.  It  will  vary  in  grip,  according  as  other 
circumstances  and  duties  insist  upon  being  attended  to. 
The  form  in  which  it  is  yielded  to  will  vary  indefinitely 
in  individuals.  But  if  they  are  Christian  people  it  is 
always  there. 

Well  then,  what  about  the  masses  of  so-called 
Christians  who  feel  nothing  of  any  such  constraining 
force  ?  And  what  about  the  many  who  feel  enough  of 
it  to  make  them  also  feel  that  they  are  wrong  in  not 
yielding  to  it,  but  not  enough  to  make  their  conduct  be 


V.5]  *  CONSTRAINED  BY  THE  WORD'   163 

influenced  by  it  ?  Brethren,  I  venture  to  believe  that 
the  measure  in  which  this  impulse  to  speak  the  word 
and  use  direct  efforts  for  somebody's  conversion  is  felt 
by  Christians,  is  a  very  fair  test  of  the  depth  of  their 
own  religion.  If  a  vessel  is  half  empty  it  will  not  run 
over.  If  it  is  full  to  the  brim,  the  sparkling  treasure 
w^ill  fall  on  all  sides.  A  weak  plant  may  never  push  its 
green  leaves  above  the  ground,  but  a  strong  one  will 
rise  into  the  light.  A  spark  may  be  smothered  in  a 
heap  of  brushwood,  but  a  steady  flame  will  burn  its 
way  out.  If  this  word  has  not  a  grip  of  you,  impelling 
you  to  its  utterance,  I  would  have  you  not  to  be  too 
sure  that  you  have  a  grip  of  it. 

III.  Lastly,  we  have  here  the  witness  to  the  word. 

'  He  was  constrained  by  the  word,  testifyiyig'  Now 
I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  imposing  too  much  mean- 
ing upon  a  non-significant  difference  of  expression,  if 
I  ask  you  to  note  the  difference  between  that  phrase 
and  the  one  which  describes  his  previous  activity :  '  He 
reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath,  and  tried  to 
persuade '  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks,  but  when  the  old 
impulse  came  back  in  new  force,  reasoning  was  far  too 
cold  a  method,  and  Paul  took  to  testifying.  Whether  that 
be  so  or  no,  mark  that  the  witness  of  one's  own  personal 
conviction  and  experience  is  the  strongest  weapon  that 
a  Christian  can  use.  I  do  not  despise  the  place  of 
reasoning,  but  arguments  do  not  often  change  opinions; 
they  never  change  hearts.  Logic  and  controversial  dis- 
coursing may  'prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,'  but  it  is  *in 
the  wilderness.'  But  when  a  man  calls  aloud,  '  Come 
and  hear  all  ye,  and  I  will  declare  what  God  hath  done 
for  my  soul ' ;  or  when  he  tells  his  brother,  '  "We  have 
found  the  Messias ' ;  or  when  he  sticks  to  '  One  thing  I 
know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see,'  it  is  difficult 


164  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xviii. 

for  any  one  to  resist,  and  impossible  for  any  one  to 
answer,  that  way  of  testifying. 

It  is  a  way  that  we  can  all  adopt  if  we  will.  Christian 
men  and  women  can  all  say  such  things.  I  do  not  forget 
that  there  are  indirect  ways  of  spreading  the  Gospel. 
Some  of  you  think  that  you  do  enough  when  you  give 
your  money  and  your  interest  in  order  to  diffuse  it. 
You  can  buy  a  substitute  in  the  militia,  but  you  cannot 
buy  a  substitute  in  Christ's  service.  You  have  each 
some  congregation  to  which  you  can  speak,  if  it  is  no 
larger  than  Paul's — namely,  two  people,  Aquila  and 
Priscilla.  What  talks  they  would  have  in  their  lodg- 
ing, as  they  plaited  the  wisps  of  black  hair  into  rough 
cloth,  and  stitched  the  strips  into  tents!  Aquila  was 
not  a  Christian  when  Paul  picked  him  up,  but  he  be- 
came one  very  soon ;  and  it  was  the  preaching  in  the 
workshop,  amidst  the  dust,  that  made  him  one.  If  we 
long  to  speak  about  Christ  we  shall  find  plenty  of 
people  to  speak  to.  'Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the 
Lord.' 

Now,  dear  friends,  I  have  only  one  word  more.  I 
have  no  doubt  there  are  some  among  us  who  have 
been  saying,  '  This  sermon  does  not  apply  to  me  at  all.' 
Does  it  not  ?  If  it  does  not,  what  does  that  mean  ?  It 
means  that  you  have  not  the  first  requisite  for  spread- 
ing the  word — viz.  personal  faith  in  the  word.  It 
means  that  you  have  put  away,  or  at  least  neglected  to 
take  in,  the  word  and  the  Saviour  of  whom  it  speaks, 
into  your  own  lives.  But  it  does  not  mean  that  you 
have  got  rid  of  the  word  thereby.  It  will  not  in  that 
case  lay  the  grip  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  upon 
you,  but  it  will  not  let  you  go.  It  will  lay  on  you  a  far 
more  solemn  and  awful  clutch,  and  like  a  jailer  with 
his  hand  on  the  culprit's  shoulder,  will '  constrain '  you 


V.  5]  GALLTO  165 

into  the  presence  of  the  Judge.  You  can  make  it  a 
savour  of  life  unto  life,  or  of  death  unto  death.  And 
though  you  do  not  grasp  it,  it  grasps  and  holds  you. 
•  The  word  that  I  speak  unto  him,  the  same  shall  judge 
him  at  the  last  day.* 


GALLIC 

'  And  when  Paul  was  now  about  to  open  his  mouth,  Gallio  said  unto  the  Jews,  If  it 
were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked  lewdness,  O  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should 
bear  with  you  :  15.  But  if  it  be  a  question  of  words  and  names,  and  of  your  law, 
look  ye  to  it ;  for  I  will  be  no  judge  of  such  matters.'— Acts  xviii.  14, 15. 

There  is  something  very  touching  in  the  immortality 
of  fame  which  comes  to  the  men  who  for  a  moment 
pass  across  the  Gospel  story,  like  shooting  stars  kindled 
for  an  instant  as  they  enter  our  atmosphere.  How 
little  Gallio  dreamed  that  he  would  live  for  ever  in 
men's  mouths  by  reason  of  this  one  judicial  dictum ! 
He  was  Seneca's  brother,  and  was  possibly  leavened  by 
his  philosophy  and  ii^disposed  to  severity.  He  has  been 
unjustly  condemned.  There  are  some  striking  lessons 
from  the  story. 

I.  The  remarkable  anticipation  of  the  true  doctrine 
as  to  the  functions  of  civil  magistrates. 

Gallio  draws  a  clear  distinction  between  conduct  and 
opinion,  and  excepts  the  whole  of  the  latter  region 
from  his  sway.  It  is  the  first  case  in  which  the  civil 
authorities  refused  to  take  cognisance  of  a  charge 
against  a  man  on  account  of  his  opinions.  Nineteen 
hundred  years  have  not  brought  all  tribunals  up  to 
that  point  yet.  Gallio  indeed  was  influenced  mainly 
by  philosophic  contempt  for  the  trivialities  of  what  he 
thought  a  superstition.  We  are  influenced  by  our  recog- 
nition of  the  sanctity  of  individual  conviction,  and  still 
more  by  reverence  for  truth  and  by  the  belief  that  it 


166  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xviii. 

should  depend  only  on  its  own  power  for  progress  and 
on  itself  for  the  defeat  of  its  enemies. 

II.  The  tragic  mistake  about  the  nature  of  the  Gospel 
which  men  make. 

There  is  something  very  pathetic  in  the  erroneous 
estimates  made  by  those  persons  mentioned  in  Acts  who 
some  once  or  twice  come  in  contact  with  the  preachers 
of  Christ.  How  little  they  recognise  what  was  before 
them  !  Their  responsibility  is  in  better  hands  than 
ours.  But  in  Gallio  there  is  a  trace  of  tendencies 
always  in  operation. 

We  see  in  him  the  practical  man's  contempt  for  mere 
ideas.  The  man  of  affairs,  be  he  statesman  or  worker, 
is  always  apt  to  think  that  things  are  more  than 
thoughts.  Gallio,  proconsul  in  Corinth,  and  his  brother 
official,  Pilate,  in  Jerusalem,  both  believed  in  powers 
that  they  could  see.  The  question  of  the  one,  for 
an  answer  to  which  he  did  not  wait,  was  not  the 
inquiry  of  a  searcher  after  truth,  but  the  exclama- 
tion of  a  sceptic  who  thought  all  the  contradictory 
answers  that  rang  through  the  world  to  be  demonstra- 
tions that  the  question  had  no  answer.  The  impatient 
refusal  of  the  other  to  have  any  concern  in  settling 
'such  matters'  was  steeped  in  the  same  characteris- 
tically Roman  spirit  of  impatient  distrust  and  sus- 
picion of  mere  ideas.  He  believed  in  Roman  force 
and  authority,  and  thought  that  such  harmless  vision- 
aries as  Paul  and  his  company  might  be  allowed  to  go 
their  own  way,  and  he  did  not  know  that  they  carried 
with  them  a  solvent  and  constructive  power  before 
which  the  solid-seeming  structure  of  the  Empire  was 
destined  to  crumble,  as  surely  as  thick-ribbed  ice  before 
the  sirocco. 

And  how  many  of  us  believe  in  wealth  and  material 


vs.  14,15]  GALLIC  167 

progress,  and  regard  the  region  of  truth  as  very  shadowy 
and  remote !  This  is  a  danger  besetting  us  all.  The  true 
forces  that  sway  the  world  are  ideas. 

We  see  in  Gallic  supercilious  indifference  to  mere 
'theological  subtleties.'  To  him  Paul's  preaching  and 
the  Jews'  passionate  denials  of  it  seemed  only  a 
squabble  about '  words  and  names.'  Probably  he  had 
gathered  his  impression  from  Paul's  eager  accusers, 
who  would  charge  him  with  giving  the  name  of 
'Christ'  to  Jesus. 

Gallio's  attitude  was  partly  Stoical  contempt  for  all 
superstitions,  partly,  perhaps,  an  eclectic  belief  that  all 
these  warring  religions  were  really  saying  the  same 
thing  and  differed  only  in  words  and  names ;  and  partly 
sheer  indifference  to  the  whole  subject.  Thus  Chris- 
tianity appears  to  many  in  this  day. 

What  is  it  in  reality  ?  Not  words  but  power :  a  Name, 
indeed,  but  a  Name  which  is  life.  Alas  for  us,  who  by 
our  jangling  have  given  colour  to  this  misconception ! 

We  see  in  Gallio  the  mistake  that  the  Gospel  has 
little  relation  to  conduct.  Gallio  drew  a  broad  distinc- 
tion between  conduct  and  opinion,  and  there  he  was 
right.  But  he  imagined  that  this  opinion  had  nothing 
to  do  with  conduct,  and  how  wrong  he  was  there  we 
need  not  elaborate. 

The  Gospel  is  the  mightiest  power  for  shaping  con- 
duct. 

III.  The  ignorant  levity  with  which  men  pass  the 
crisis  of  their  lives. 

How  little  Gallio  knew  of  what  a  possibility  was 
opened  out  before  him !  Angels  were  hovering  unseen. 
We  seldom  recognise  the  fateful  moments  of  our  lives 
till  they  are  past. 

The  offer  of  salvation  in  Christ  is  ever  a  crisis.    It 


168  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xix. 

may  never  be  repeated.  Was  Gallic  ever  again  brought 
into  contact  with  Paul  or  Paul's  Lord  ?  "We  know  not. 
He  passes  out  of  sight,  the  search-light  is  turned  in 
another  direction,  and  we  lose  him  in  the  darkness. 
The  extent  of  his  criminality  is  in  better  hands  than 
ours,  though  we  cannot  but  let  our  thoughts  go  forward 
to  the  time  when  he,  like  us  all,  will  stand  at  the  judg- 
ment bar  of  Jesus,  no  longer  a  judge  but  judged.  Let 
us  hope  that  before  he  passed  hence,  he  learned  how 
full  of  spirit  and  of  life  the  message  was,  which  he  once 
took  for  a  mere  squabble  about '  words  and  names,'  and 
thought  too  trivial  to  occupy  his  court.  And  let  us 
remember  that  the  Jesus,  whom  we  are  sometimes 
tempted  to  judge  as  of  little  importance  to  us,  will  one 
day  judge  us,  and  that  His  judgment  will  settle  our 
fate  for  evermore. 


TWO  FRUITFUL  YEARS 

'And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  while  Apolloswas  at  Corinth,  Paul  having  passed 
through  the  upper  coasts  came  to  Ephesus :  and  finding  certain  disciples,  2.  He 
said  unto  them.  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  ?  And  they 
said  unto  him,  We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost. 
3.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Unto  what  then  were  ye  baptized  ?  And  they  said, 
Unto  John's  baptism.  4.  Then  said  Paul,  John  verily  baptized  with  the  baptism 
of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on  Him  which 
should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus.  5.  When  they  heard  this,  they 
were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  6.  And  when  Paul  had  laid  his 
hands  upon  them,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them  ;  and  they  spake  with  tongues, 
and  prophesied.  7.  And  all  the  men  were  about  twelve.  8.  And  he  went  into  the 
synagogue,  and  spake  boldly  for  the  space  of  three  months,  disputing  and  persuad- 
ing the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God.  9.  But  when  divers  were  hardened, 
and  believed  not,  but  spake  evil  of  that  way  before  the  multitude,  he  departed 
from  them,  and  separated  the  disciples,  disputing  daily  in  the  school  of  one 
Tyrannus.  10.  And  this  continued  by  the  space  of  two  years ;  so  that  all  they 
which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both  Jews  and  Greeks. 
11.  And  God  wrought  special  miracles  by  the  hands  of  Paul :  12.  So  that  from  his 
body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs  or  aprons,  and  the  diseases 
departed  from  them,  and  the  evil  spirits  went  out  of  them.'— Acts  xix.  1-12. 

This  passage  finds  Paul  in  Ephesus.    In  the  meantime 
he  had  paid  that  city  a  hasty  visit  on  his  way  back  from 


vs.  1-12]      TWO  FRUITFUL  YEARS  169 

Greece,  had  left  his  friends,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  in  it, 
and  had  gone  on  to  Jerusalem,  thence  returning  to 
Antioch,  and  visiting  the  churches  in  Asia  Minor  which 
he  had  planted  on  his  former  journeys.  From  the 
inland  and  higher  districts  he  has  come  down  to  the 
coast,  and  established  himself  in  the  great  city  of 
Ephesus,  where  the  labours  of  Aquila,  and  perhaps 
others,  had  gathered  a  small  band  of  disciples.  Two 
points  are  especially  made  prominent  in  this  passage — 
the  incorporation  of  John's  disciples  with  the  Church, 
and  the  eminent  success  of  Paul's  preaching  in 
Ephesus. 

The  first  of  these  is  a  very  remarkable  and,  in  some 
respects,  puzzling  incident.  It  is  tempting  to  bring  it 
into  connection  with  the  immediately  preceding  nar- 
rative as  to  Apollos.  The  same  stage  of  spiritual 
development  is  presented  in  these  twelve  men  and  in 
that  eloquent  Alexandrian.  They  and  he  were  alike  in 
knowing  only  of  John's  baptism ;  but  if  they  had  been 
Apollos'  pupils,  they  would  most  probably  have  been 
led  by  him  into  the  fuller  light  which  he  received 
through  Priscilla  and  Aquila.  More  probably,  there- 
fore, they  had  been  John's  disciples,  independently  of 
Apollos.  Their  being  recognised  as  'disciples'  is 
singular,  when  we  consider  their  very  small  knowledge 
of  Christian  truth;  and  their  not  having  been  pre- 
viously instructed  in  its  rudiments,  if  they  were 
associating  with  the  Church,  is  not  less  so.  But 
improbable  things  do  happen,  and  part  of  the  reason 
for  an  event  being  recorded  is  often  its  improbability. 
Luke  seems  to  have  been  struck  by  the  singular 
similarity  between  Apollos  and  these  men,  and  to  have 
told  the  story,  not  only  because  of  its  importance  but 
because  of  its  peculiarity. 


170  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xix. 

The  first  point  to  note  is  the  fact  that  these  men 
were  disciples.  Paul  speaks  of  their  having  '  believed,' 
and  they  were  evidently  associated  with  the  Church. 
But  the  connection  must  have  been  loose,  for  they  had 
not  received  baptism.  Probably  there  was  a  fringe  of 
partial  converts  hanging  round  each  church,  and  Paul, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  men  beyond  the  fact  that  he 
found  them  along  with  the  others,  accepted  them  as 
'  disciples.'  But  there  must  have  been  some  reason  for 
doubt,  or  his  question  would  not  have  been  asked. 
They  'believed'  in  so  far  as  John  had  taught  the 
coming  of  Messiah.  But  they  did  not  know  that  Jesus 
was  the  Messiah  whose  coming  John  had  taught. 

Paul's  question  is,  '  Did  you  receive  the  Holy  Spirit 
when  you  believed  ? '  Obviously  he  missed  the  marks 
of  the  Spirit  in  them,  whether  we  are  to  suppose  that 
these  were  miraculous  powers  or  moral  and  religious 
elevation.  Now  this  question  suggests  that  the 
possession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  normal  condition  of 
all  believers ;  and  that  truth  cannot  be  too  plainly 
stated  or  urgently  pressed  to-day.  He  is  'the  Spirit, 
which  they  that  believe  on  Him '  shall  '  receive.'  The 
outer  methods  of  His  bestowment  vary :  sometimes  He 
is  given  after  baptism,  and  sometimes,  as  to  Cornelius, 
before  it ;  sometimes  by  laying  on  of  Apostolic  hands, 
sometimes  without  it.  But  one  thing  constantly 
precedes,  namely,  faith;  and  one  thing  constantly 
follows  faith,  namely,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Modern  Christianity  does  not  grasp  that  truth  as 
firmly  or  make  it  as  prominent  as  it  ought. 

The  question  suggests,  though  indirectly,  that  the 
signs  of  the  Spirit's  presence  are  sadly  absent  in  many 
professing  Christians.  Paul  asked  it  in  wonder.  If  he 
came  into  modern  churches,  he  would  have  to  ask  it 


vs.  1-12]      TWO  FRUITFUL  YEARS  171 

once  more.  Possibly  he  looked  for  the  visible  tokens 
in  powers  of  miracle-working  and  the  like.  But  these 
were  temporary  accidents,  and  the  permanent  mani- 
festations are  holiness,  consciousness  of  sonship,  God- 
directed  longings,  religious  illumination,  victory  over 
the  flesh.  These  things  should  be  obvious  in  disciples. 
They  will  be,  if  the  Spirit  is  not  quenched.  Unless 
they  are,  what  sign  of  being  Christians  do  we  present? 

The  answer  startles.  They  had  not  heard  whether 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  given;  for  that  is  the  true 
meaning  of  their  reply.  John  had  foretold  the  coming 
of  One  who  should  baptize  with  the  fire  of  that  divine 
Spirit.  His  disciples,  therefore,  could  not  be  ignorant 
of  the  existence  thereof;  but  they  had  never  heard 
whether  their  Master's  prophecy  had  been  fulfilled. 
What  a  glimpse  that  gives  us  of  the  small  publicity 
attained  by  the  story  of  Jesus ! 

Paul's  second  question  betrays  even  more  astonish- 
ment than  did  his  first.  He  had  taken  for  granted  that, 
as  disciples,  the  men  had  been  baptized;  and  his  question 
implies  that  a  pre-requisite  of  Christian  baptism  was 
the  teaching  which  they  said  that  they  had  not  had, 
and  that  a  consequence  of  it  was  the  gift  of  the  Spirit, 
which  he  saw  that  they  did  not  possess.  Of  course 
Paul's  teaching  is  but  summarised  here.  Its  gist  was 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  whom  John  had  heralded, 
that  John  had  himself  taught  that  his  mission  was 
preliminary,  and  that  therefore  his  true  disciples  must 
advance  to  faith  in  Christ. 

The  teaching  was  welcomed,  for  these  men  were  not 
of  the  sort  who  saw  in  Jesus  a  rival  to  John,  as  others 
of  his  disciples  did.  They  became  '  disciples  indeed,'  and 
then  followed  baptism,  apparently  not  administered  by 
Paul,  and  imposition  of  Paul's  hands.    The  Holy  Spirit 


172  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xix. 

then  came  on  them,  as  on  the  disciples  on  Pentecost, 
and  '  they  spoke  with  tongues  and  prophesied.'  It  was 
a  repetition  of  that  day,  as  a  testimony  that  the  gifts 
were  not  limited  by  time  or  place,  but  were  the  per- 
manent possession  of  believers,  as  truly  in  heathen 
Ephesus  as  in  Jerusalem ;  and  we  miss  the  meaning 
of  the  event  unless  we  add,  as  truly  in  Britain  to-day 
as  in  any  past.  The  fire  lit  on  Pentecost  has  not  died 
down  into  grey  ashes.  If  we  '  believe,'  it  will  burn  on 
our  heads  and,  better,  in  our  spirits. 

Much  ingenuity  has  been  expended  in  finding  pro- 
found meanings  in  the  number  of  '  twelve '  here.  The 
Apostles  and  their  supernatural  gifts,  the  patriarchs 
as  founders  of  Israel,  have  been  thought  of  as  explain- 
ing the  number,  as  if  these  men  were  founders  of  a 
new  Israel,  or  Apostolate.  But  all  that  is  trifling  with 
the  story,  which  gives  no  hint  that  the  men  were  of 
any  special  importance,  and  it  omits  the  fact  that  they 
were  '  about  twelve,'  not  precisely  that  number.  Luke 
simply  wishes  us  to  learn  that  there  was  a  group  of 
them,  but  how  many  he  does  not  exactly  know.  More 
important  is  it  to  notice  that  this  is  the  last  reference 
to  John  or  his  disciples  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
narrator  rejoices  to  point  out  that  some  at  least  of 
these  were  led  onwards  into  full  faith. 

The  other  part  of  the  section  presents  mainly  the 
familiar  features  of  Apostolic  ministration,  the  first 
appeal  to  the  synagogue,  the  rejection  of  the  message 
by  it,  and  then  the  withdrawal  of  Paul  and  the  Jewish 
disciples.  The  chief  characteristics  of  the  narrative 
are  Paul's  protracted  stay  in  Ephesus,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  centre  of  public  evangelising  in  the  lecture 
hall  of  a  Gentile  teacher,  the  unhindered  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  special  miracles  accompanying  it. 


vs.  1-12]      TWO  FRUITFUL  YEARS  173 

The  importance  of  Ephesus  as  the  eye  and  heart  of 
proconsular  Asia  explains  the  lengthened  stay.  *A 
great  door  and  effectual,'  said  Paul,  *is  opened  unto 
me  ' ;  and  he  was  not  the  man  to  refrain  from  pushing 
in  at  it  because  '  there  are  many  adversaries.'  Rather 
opposition  was  part  of  his  reason  for  persistence,  as  it 
should  always  be. 

There  comes  a  point  in  the  most  patient  labour, 
however,  when  it  is  best  no  longer  to  'cast  pearls' 
before  those  who  '  trample  them  under  foot,'  and  Paul 
set  an  example  of  wise  withdrawal  as  well  as  of  brave 
pertinacity,  in  leaving  the  synagogue  when  his  remain- 
ing there  only  hardened  disobedient  hearts.  Note  that 
word  disobedient.  It  teaches  that  the  moral  element 
in  unbelief  is  resistance  of  the  will.  The  two  words 
are  not  synonyms,  though  they  apply  to  the  same 
state  of  mind.  Rather  the  one  lays  bare  the  root  of 
the  other  and  declares  its  guilt.  Unbelief  comes  from 
disobedience,  and  therefore  is  fit  subject  for  punish- 
ment. Again  observe  that  expression  for  Christianity, 
•the  Way,'  which  occurs  several  times  in  the  Acts. 
The  Gospel  points  the  path  for  us  to  tread.  It  is  not  a 
body  of  truth  merely,  but  it  is  a  guide  for  practice. 
Discipleship  is  manifested  in  conduct.  This  Gospel 
points  the  way  through  the  wilderness  to  Zion  and  to 
rest.  It  is  Hhe  Way,'  the  only  path,  'the  Way  ever- 
lasting.' 

It  was  a  bold  step  to  gather  the  disciples  in  'the 
school  of  Tyrannus.'  He  was  probably  a  Greek 
professor  of  rhetoric  or  lecturer  on  philosophy,  and 
Paul  may  have  hired  his  hall,  to  the  horror,  no  doubt, 
of  the  Rabbis.  It  was  a  complete  breaking  with  the 
synagogue  and  a  bold  appeal  to  the  heathen  public. 
Ephesus  must  have  been  better  governed  than  Philippi 


174  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xix. 

and  Lystra,  and  the  Jewish  element  must  have  been 
relatively  weaker,  to  allow  of  Paul's  going  on  preaching 
with  so  much  publicity  for  two  years. 

Note  the  flexibility  of  his  methods,  his  willingness 
to  use  even  a  heathen  teacher's  school  for  his  work, 
and  the  continuous  energy  of  the  man.  Not  on 
Sabbath  days  only,  but  daily,  he  was  at  his  post.  The 
multitudes  of  visitors  from  all  parts  to  the  great  city 
supplied  a  constant  stream  of  listeners,  for  Ephesus 
was  a  centre  for  the  whole  country.  We  may  learn 
from  Paul  to  concentrate  work  in  important  centres, 
not  to  be  squeamish  about  where  we  stand  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and  not  to  be  afraid  of  making  ourselves 
conspicuous.  Paul's  message  hallows  the  school  of 
Tyrannus ;  and  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  where  men 
have  been  accustomed  to  go  for  widely  different 
teaching,  is  a  good  place  for  Paul  to  give  forth  his 
message  in. 

The  '  special  miracles '  which  were  wrought  are  very 
remarkable,  and  unlike  the  usual  type  of  miracles.  It 
does  not  appear  that  Paul  himself  sent  the  '  handker- 
chiefs and  aprons,'  which  conveyed  healing  virtue,  but 
that  he  simply  permitted  their  use.  The  converts  had 
faith  to  believe  that  such  miracles  would  be  wrought, 
and  God  honoured  the  faith.  But  note  how  carefully 
the  narrative  puts  Paul's  part  in  its  right  place.  God 
'wrought';  Paul  was  only  the  channel.  If  the  eager 
people,  who  carried  away  the  garments,  had  super- 
stitiously  fancied  that  there  was  virtue  in  Paul,  and 
had  not  looked  beyond  him  to  God,  it  is  implied  that  no 
miracles  would  have  been  wrought.  But  still  the  cast 
of  these  healings  is  anomalous,  and  only  paralleled  by 
the  similar  instances  in  Peter's  case. 

The  principle  laid  down  by  Peter  (ch.  iii.  12)  is  to  be 


vs.  1-12]       WOULD-BE  EXORCISTS  175 

kept  in  view  in  the  study  of  all  the  miracles  in  the 
Acts.  It  is  Jesus  Christ  who  works,  and  not  His 
servants  who  heal  by  their  •  own  power  or  holiness.' 
Jesus  can  heal  with  or  without  material  channels,  but 
sometimes  chooses  to  employ  such  vehicles  as  these, 
just  as  on  earth  He  chose  to  anoint  blind  eyes  with 
clay,  and  to  send  the  man  to  wash  it  off  at  the  pool. 
Sense-bound  faith  is  not  rejected,  but  is  helped  accord- 
ing to  its  need,  that  it  may  be  strengthened  and 
elevated. 


WOULD-BE  EXORCISTS 

*.  .  .  Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know ;  but  who  are  ye  ?  '—Acts  xix.  15. 

These  exorcists  had  no  personal  union  with  Jesus.  To 
them  He  was  only  '  Jesus  whom  Paul  preached.'  They 
spoke  His  name  tentatively,  as  an  experiment,  and 
imitatively.  To  command  '  in  the  name  of  Jesus '  was 
an  appeal  to  Jesus  to  glorify  His  name  and  exert  His 
power,  and  so  when  the  speaker  had  no  real  faith  in 
the  name  or  the  power,  there  was  no  answer,  because 
there  was  really  no  appeal. 

I.  The  only  power  which  can  cast  out  the  evil  spirits 
is  tlie  name  of  Jesus. 

That  is  a  commonplace  of  Christian  belief.  But  it 
is  often  held  in  a  dangerously  narrow  way  and  leads  to 
most  unwise  pitting  of  the  Gospel  against  other  modes 
of  bettering  and  elevating  men,  instead  of  recognising 
them  as  allies.  Earnest  Christian  workers  are  tempted 
to  forget  Jesus'  own  word :  '  He  that  is  not  against  us 
is  for  us.'  There  is  no  need  to  disparage  other  agencies 
because  we  believe  that  it  is  the  Gospel  which  is  'the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation.'     Many  of  the  popular 


176  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xix. 

philanthropic  movements  of  the  day,  many  of  its 
curbing  and  enlightening  forces,  many  of  its  revolu- 
tionary social  ideas,  are  really  in  their  essence  and 
historically  in  their  origin,  profoundly  Christian,  and 
are  the  application  of  the  principles  inherent  in  'the 
Name'  to  the  evils  of  society.  No  doubt  many  of 
their  eager  apostles  are  non-Christian  or  even  anti- 
Christian,  but  though  some  of  them  have  tried 
violently  to  pluck  up  the  plant  by  the  root  from  the 
soil  in  which  it  first  flowered,  much  of  that  soil  still 
adheres  to  it,  and  it  will  not  live  long  if  torn  from  its 
native  *  habitat.' 

It  is  not  narrowness  or  hostility  to  non-Christian 
efforts  to  cast  out  the  demons  from  humanity,  but 
only  the  declaration  of  a  truth  which  is  taught  by  the 
consideration  of  what  is  the  difference  between  all 
other  such  efforts  and  Christianity,  and  is  confirmed 
by  experience,  if  we  maintain  that,  whatever  good 
results  may  follow  from  these  other  influences,  it  is 
the  powers  lodged  in  the  Name  of  Jesus,  and  these 
alone  which  can,  radically  and  completely,  conquer 
and  eject  the  demons  from  a  single  soul,  and  emanci- 
pate society  from  their  tyranny. 

For  consider  that  the  Gospel  which  proclaims  Jesus 
as  the  Saviour  is  the  only  thing  which  deals  with  the 
deepest  fact  in  our  natures,  the  fact  of  sin;  gives  a 
personal  Deliverer  from  its  power ;  communicates  a 
new  life  of  which  the  very  essence  is  righteousness,  and 
which  brings  with  it  new  motives,  new  impulses,  and 
new  powers. 

Contrast  with  this  the  inadequate  diagnosis  of  the 
disease  and  the  consequent  imperfection  of  the  remedy 
which  other  physicians  of  the  world's  sickness  present. 
Most  of  them  only  aim  at  repressing  outward  acts. 


V.  15]  WOULD-BE  EXORCISTS  177 

None  of  them  touch  more  than  a  part  of  the  whole 
dreadful  circumference  of  the  dark  orb  of  evil.  Law 
restrains  actions.  Ethics  proclaims  principles  which 
it  has  no  power  to  realise.  It  shows  men  a  shining 
height,  but  leaves  them  lame  and  grovelling  in  the 
mire.  Education  casts  out  the  demon  of  ignorance, 
and  makes  the  demons  whom  it  does  not  cast  out  more 
polite  and  perilous.  It  brings  its  own  evils  in  its  train. 
Every  kind  of  crop  has  weeds  which  spring  with  it. 
The  social  and  political  changes,  which  are  eagerly 
preached  now,  will  do  much;  but  one  thing,  which  is 
the  all-important  thing,  they  will  not  do,  they  will  not 
change  the  nature  of  the  individuals  who  make  up  the 
community.  And  till  that  nature  is  changed  any  form 
of  society  will  produce  its  own  growth  of  evils.  A 
Christless  democracy  will  be  as  bad  as,  if  not  worse 
than,  a  Christless  monarchy  or  aristocracy.  If  the 
bricks  remain  the  same,  it  does  not  much  matter  into 
what  shape  you  build  them. 

These  would-be  exorcists  but  irritated  the  demons 
by  their  vain  attempts  at  ejecting  them,  and  it  is  some- 
times the  case  that  efforts  to  cure  social  diseases  only 
result  in  exacerbating  them.  If  one  hole  in  a  Dutch 
dyke  is  stopped  up,  more  pressure  is  thrown  on  another 
weak  point  and  a  leak  will  soon  appear  there.  There 
is  but  one  Name  that  casts  a  spell  over  all  the  ills  that 
flesh  is  heir  to.  There  is  but  one  Saviour  of  society — 
Jesus  who  saves  from  sin  through  His  death,  and  by 
participation  in  His  life  delivers  men  from  that  life  of 
self  which  is  the  parent  of  all  the  evils  from  which 
society  vainly  strives  to  be  delivered  by  any  power 
but  His. 

II.  That  Name  must  be  spoken  by  believing  men  if 
it  is  to  put  forth  its  full  power. 

VOL.  II.  M 


178  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xix. 

These  exorcists  had  no  faith.  All  that  they  knew 
of  Jesus  was  that  He  was  the  one  '  whom  Paul 
preached.'  Even  the  name  of  Jesus  is  spoiled  and  is 
powerless  on  the  lips  of  one  who  repeats  it,  parrot-like, 
because  he  has  seen  its  power  when  it  came  flame-like 
from  the  fiery  lips  of  some  man  of  earnest  convictions. 

In  all  regions,  and  especially  in  the  matter  of  art  or 
literature,  imitators  are  poor  creatures,  and  men  are 
quick  to  detect  the  difference  between  the  original  and 
the  copy.  The  copyists  generally  imitate  the  weak 
points,  and  seldom  get  nearer  than  the  imitation  of 
external  and  trivial  peculiarities.  It  is  more  feasible 
to  reproduce  the  'contortions  of  the  Sibyl'  than  to 
catch  her  '  inspiration.' 

This  absence  or  feebleness  of  personal  faith  is  the 
explanation  of  much  failure  in  so-called  Christian  work. 
No  doubt  there  may  be  other  causes  for  the  want  of 
success,  but  after  all  allowance  is  made  for  these,  it 
still  remains  true  that  the  chief  reason  why  the 
Gospel  message  is  often  proclaimed  without  casting 
out  demons  is  that  it  is  proclaimed  with  faltering 
faith,  tentatively  and  without  assured  confidence  in  its 
power,  or  imitatively,  with  but  little,  if  any,  inward 
experience  of  the  magic  of  its  spell.  The  demons  have 
ears  quick  to  discriminate  between  Paul's  fiery  accents 
and  the  cold  repetition  of  them.  Incomparably  the 
most  powerful  agency  which  any  man  can  employ  in 
producing  conviction  in  others  is  the  utterance  of  his 
own  intense  conviction.  *  If  you  wish  me  to  weep, 
your  own  tears  must  flow,'  said  the  Roman  poet.  Other 
factors  may  powerfully  aid  the  exorcising  power  of  the 
word  spoken  by  faith,  and  no  wise  man  will  disparage 
these,  but  they  are  powerless  without  faith  and  it  is 
powerful  without  them. 


▼.16]  WOULD-BE  EXORCISTS  179 

Consider  the  effect  of  that  personal  faith  on  the 
speaker — in  bringing  all  his  force  to  bear  on  his 
words ;  in  endowing  him  for  a  time  with  many  of  the 
subsidiary  qualities  which  make  our  words  winged  and 
weighty ;  in  lifting  to  a  height  of  self-oblivion,  which 
itself  is  magnetic. 

Consider  its  effect  on  the  hearers — how  it  bows  hearts 
as  trees  are  bent  before  a  rushing  wind. 

Consider  its  effect  in  bringing  into  action  God's  own 
power.  Of  the  man,  all  aflame  with  Christian  con- 
victions and  speaking  them  with  the  confidence  and 
urgency  which  become  them  and  him,  it  may  truly  be 
said,  'It  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your 
Father  that  speaketh  in  you.' 

Here  then  we  have  laid  bare  the  secret  of  success 
and  a  cause  of  failure,  in  Christian  enterprise.  Here 
we  see,  as  in  a  concrete  example,  the  truth  exemplified, 
which  all  who  long  for  the  emancipation  of  demon- 
ridden  humanity  would  be  wise  to  lay  to  heart,  and 
thereby  to  be  saved  from  much  eager  travelling  on  a 
road  that  leads  nowhither,  and  much  futile  expenditure 
of  effort  and  sympathy,  and  many  disappointments. 
It  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  long  ago  in  Ephesus,  that 
the  evil  spirits  '  feel  the  Infant's  hand  from  far  Judea's 
land,'  and  are  forced  to  confess,  *  Jesus  we  know  and 
Paul  we  know ' ;  but  to  other  would-be  exorcists  their 
answer  is,  *  Who  are  ye  ? '  *  When  a  strong  man  armed 
keepeth  his  house,  his  goods  are  in  peace.'  There  is 
but  '  One  stronger  than  he  who  can  come  upon  him, 
and  having  overcome  him,  can  take  from  him  all  his 
armour  wherein  he  trusted  and  divide  the  spoils,'  and 
that  is  the  Christ,  at  whose  name,  faithfully  spoken, 
•  the  devils  fear  and  fly.* 


THE  FIGHT  WITH  WILD  BEASTS  AT  EPHESUS 

*  After  these  things  were  ended,  Paul  purposed  in  the  spirit,  when  he  had  passed 

through  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  saying.  After  I  have  been 
there,  I  must  also  see  Rome.  22.  So  he  sent  into  Macedonia  two  of  them  that 
ministered  unto  him,  Timotheus  and  Erastus ;  but  he  himself  stayed  in  Asia  for 
a  season.  23.  And  the  same  time  there  arose  no  small  stir  about  that  way. 
21.  For  a  certain  man  named  Demetrius,  a  silversmith,  which  made  silver  shrines 
for  Diana,  brought  no  small  gain  unto  the  craftsmen ;  25.  Whom  he  called 
together  with  the  workmen  of  like  occupation,  and  said,  Sirs,  ye  know  that  by 
this  craft  we  have  our  wealth.  26.  Moreover  ye  see  and  bear,  that  not  alone  at 
Ephesus,  but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  persuaded  and  turned 
away  much  people,  saying  that  they  be  no  gods,  which  are  made  with  hands : 
27.  So  that  not  only  this  our  craft  is  in  danger  to  be  set  at  nought ;  but  also  that 
the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana  should  be  despised,  and  her  magnificence 
should  be  destroyed,  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  worshippeth.  28.  And  when 
they  heard  these  sayings,  they  were  full  of  wrath,  and  cried  out,  saying.  Great  is 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians.  29.  And  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  confusion  :  and 
having  caught  Gains  and  Aristarchus,  men  of  Macedonia,  Paul's  companions  in 
travel,  they  rushed  with  one  accord  into  the  theatre.  30.  And  when  Paul  would 
have  entered  in  unto  the  people,  the  disciples  suflTered  him  not.  31.  And  certain 
of  the  chief  of  Asia,  which  were  his  friends,  sent  unto  him,  desiring  him  that  he 
would  not  adventure  himself  into  the  theatre.  32.  Some  therefore  cried  one  thing, 
and  some  another :  for  the  assembly  was  confused  ;  and  the  more  part  knew  not 
wherefore  they  were  come  together.  33.  And  they  drew  Alexander  out  of  the 
multitude,  the  Jews  putting  him  forward.  And  Alexander  beckoned  with  the 
hand,  and  would  have  made  his  defence  unto  the  people.  34.  But  when  they  knew 
that  he  was  a  Jew,  all  with  one  voice  about  the  space  of  two  hours  cried  out. 
Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.'— Acts  xix.  21-34. 

Paul's  long  residence  in  Ephesus  indicates  the  impor- 
tance of  the  position.  The  great  wealthy  city  was  the 
best  possible  centre  for  evangelising  all  the  province 
of  Asia,  and  that  was  to  a  large  extent  effected  during 
the  Apostle's  stay  there.  But  he  had  a  wider  scheme 
in  his  mind.  His  settled  policy  was  always  to  fly  at 
the  head,  as  it  were.  The  most  populous  cities  were 
his  favourite  fields,  and  already  his  thoughts  were 
travelling  towards  the  civilised  world's  capital,  the 
centre  of  empire — Rome.  A  blow  struck  there  would 
echo  through  the  world.  Paul  had  his  plan,  and  God 
had  His,  and  Paul's  was  not  realised  in  the  fashion  he 
had  meant,  but  it  was  realised  in  substance.  He  did 
not  expect  to  enter  Rome  as  a  prisoner.  God  shaped 
the  ends  which  Paul  had  only  rough-hewn. 

180 


vs.  21-34]  WILD  BEASTS  AT  EPHESUS     181 

The  programme  in  verses  21  and  22  was  modified  by 
circumstances,  as  some  people  would  say ;  Paul  would 
have  said,  by  God.  The  riot  hastened  his  departure 
from  Ephesus.  He  did  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  did 
see  Rome,  but  the  chain  of  events  that  drew  him  there 
seemed  to  him,  at  first  sight,  the  thwarting,  rather 
than  the  fulfilment,  of  his  long-cherished  hope.  Well 
it  is  for  us  to  carry  all  our  schemes  to  God,  and  to 
leave  them  in  His  hands. 

The  account  of  the  riot  is  singularly  vivid  and  lifelike. 
It  reveals  a  new  phase  of  antagonism  to  the  Gospel, 
a  kind  of  trades-union  demonstration,  quite  unlike 
anything  that  has  met  us  in  the  Acts.  It  gives  a 
glimpse  into  the  civic  life  of  a  great  city,  and  shows 
demagogues  and  mob  to  be  the  same  in  Ephesus 
as  in  England.  It  has  many  points  of  interest  for 
the  commentator  or  scholar,  and  lessons  for  all. 
Luke  tells  the  story  with  a  certain  dash  of  covert 
irony. 

We  have,  first,  the  protest  of  the  shrine-makers'  guild 
or  trades-union,  got  up  by  the  skilful  manipulation  of 
Demetrius,  He  was  evidently  an  important  man  in 
the  trade,  probably  well-to-do.  As  his  speech  shows, 
he  knew  exactly  how  to  hit  the  average  mind.  The 
small  shrines  which  he  and  his  fellow-craftsmen  made 
were  of  various  materials,  from  humble  pottery  to 
silver,  and  were  intended  for  '  votaries  to  dedicate 
in  the  temple,'  and  represented  the  goddess  Artemis 
sitting  in  a  niche  with  her  lions  beside  her.  Making 
these  was  a  flourishing  industry,  and  must  have 
employed  a  large  number  of  men  and  much  capital. 
Trade  was  beginning  to  be  slack,  and  sales  were  falling 
ofP.  No  doubt  there  is  exaggeration  in  Demetrius's 
rhetoric,  but  the  meeting  of  the  craft  would  not  have 


182  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xix. 

been  held  unless  a  perceptible  effect  had  been  produced 
by  Paul's  preaching.  Probably  Demetrius  and  the 
rest  were  more  frightened  than  hurt;  but  men  are 
very  quick  to  take  alarm  when  their  pockets  are 
threatened. 

The  speech  is  a  perfect  example  of  how  self-interest 
masquerades  in  the  garb  of  pure  concern  for  lofty 
objects,  and  yet  betrays  itself.  The  danger  to  'our 
craft '  comes  first,  and  the  danger  to  the  '  magnificence ' 
of  the  goddess  second ;  but  the  precedence  given  to 
the  trade  is  salved  over  by  a  '  not  only,'  which  tries  to 
make  the  religious  motive  the  chief.  No  doubt  Deme- 
trius was  a  devout  worshipper  of  Artemis,  and  thought 
himself  influenced  by  high  motives  in  stirring  up  the 
craft.  It  is  natural  to  be  devout  or  moral  or  patriotic 
when  it  pays  to  be  so.  One  would  not  expect  a  shrine- 
maker  to  be  easily  accessible  to  the  conviction  that 
'  they  be  no  gods  which  are  made  with  hands.' 

Such  admixture  of  zeal  for  some  great  cause,  with  a 
shrewd  eye  to  profit,  is  very  common,  and  may  deceive 
us  if  we  are  not  always  watchful.  Jehu  bragged  about 
his  '  zeal  for  the  Lord '  when  it  urged  him  to  secure 
himself  on  the  throne  by  murder;  and  he  may  have 
been  quite  honest  in  thinking  that  the  impulse  was 
pure,  when  it  was  really  mingled.  How  many  foremost 
men  in  public  life  everywhere  pose  as  pure  patriots, 
consumed  with  zeal  for  national  progress,  righteous- 
ness, etc.,  when  all  the  while  they  are  chiefly  concerned 
about  some  private  bit  of  log-rolling  of  their  own! 
How  often  in  churches  there  are  men  professing  to  be 
eager  for  the  glory  of  God,  who  are,  perhaps  half-, 
unconsciously,  using  it  as  a  stalking-horse,  behind 
which  they  may  shoot  game  for  their  own  larder  1 
A  drop  of   quicksilver  oxidises  a»d  dims  ^s  sqou  ai 


vs.  21-34]  WILD  BEASTS  AT  EPHESUS     183 

exposed  to  the  air.  The  purest  motives  get  a  scum 
on  them  quickly  unless  we  constantly  keep  them  clear 
by  communion  with  God. 

Demetrius  may  teach  us  another  lesson.  His  opposi- 
tion to  Paul  was  based  on  the  plain  fact  that,  if  Paul's 
teaching  prevailed,  no  more  shrines  would  be  wanted. 
That  was  a  new  ground  of  opposition  to  the  Gospel, 
resembled  only  by  the  motive  for  the  action  of  the 
owners  of  the  slave  girl  at  Philippi;  but  it  is  a  per- 
ennial source  of  antagonism  to  it.  In  our  cities 
especially  there  are  many  trades  which  would  be 
wiped  out  if  Christ's  laws  of  life  were  universally 
adopted.  So  all  the  purveyors  of  commodities  and 
pleasures  which  the  Gospel  forbids  a  Christian  man  to 
use  are  arrayed  against  it.  We  have  to  make  up  our 
minds  to  face  and  fight  them.  A  liquor-seller,  for 
instance,  is  not  likely  to  look  complacently  on  a 
religion  which  would  bring  his  '  trade  into  disrepute ' ; 
and  there  are  other  occupations  which  would  be  gone  if 
Christ  were  King,  and  which  therefore,  by  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation,  are  set  against  the  Gospel,  unless, 
so  to  speak,  its  teeth  are  drawn. 

According  to  one  reading,  the  shouts  of  the  crafts- 
men which  told  that  Demetrius  had  touched  them  in 
the  tenderest  part,  their  pockets,  was  an  invocation, 
'  Great  Diana ! '  not  a  profession  of  faith ;  and  we  have 
a  more  lively  picture  of  an  excited  crowd  if  we  adopt 
the  alteration.  It  is  easy  to  get  a  mob  to  yell  out  a 
watchword,  whether  religious  or  political;  and  the 
less  they  understand  it,  the  louder  are  they  likely  to 
roar.  In  Athanasius'  days  the  rabble  of  Constantinople 
made  the  city  ring  with  cries,  degrading  the  subtlest 
questions  as  to  the  Trinity,  and  examples  of  the  same 
sort   have    not   been  wanting   nearer    home,      It   ia 


184  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xix. 

criminal  to  bring  such  incompetent  judges  into 
religious  or  political  or  social  questions,  it  is  cowardly 
to  be  influenced  by  them.  '  The  voice  of  the  people ' 
is  not  always  *  the  voice  of  God.'  It  is  better  to  '  be 
in  the  right  with  two  or  three '  than  to  swell  the  howl 
of  Diana's  worshippers. 

II.  A  various  reading  of  verse  28  gives  an  additional 
particular,  which  is  of  course  implied  in  the  received 
text,  but  makes  the  narrative  more  complete  and  vivid 
if  inserted.  It  adds  that  the  craftsmen  rushed  'into 
the  street,'  and  there  raised  their  wild  cry,  which 
naturally  'filled'  the  city  with  confusion.  So  the 
howling  mob,  growing  larger  and  more  excited  every 
minute,  swept  through  Ephesus,  and  made  for  the 
theatre,  the  common  place  of  assembly. 

On  their  road  they  seem  to  have  come  across  two  of 
Paul's  companions,  whom  they  dragged  with  them. 
What  they  meant  to  do  with  the  two  they  had  pro- 
bably not  asked  themselves.  A  mob  has  no  plans,  and 
its  most  savage  acts  are  unpremeditated.  Passion  let 
loose  is  almost  sure  to  end  in  bloodshed,  and  the  lives 
of  Gaius  and  Aristarchus  hung  by  a  thread.  A  gust  of 
fury  storming  over  the  mob,  and  a  hundred  hands 
might  have  torn  them  to  atoms,  and  no  man  have 
thought  himself  their  murderer. 

What  a  noble  contrast  to  the  raging  crowd  the  silent 
submission,  no  doubt  accompanied  by  trustful  looks 
to  Heaven  and  unspoken  prayers,  presents !  And  how 
grandly  Paul  comes  out!  He  had  not  been  found, 
probably  had  not  been  sought  for,  by  the  rioters, 
whose  rage  was  too  blind  to  search  for  him,  but  his 
brave  soul  could  not  bear  to  leave  his  friends  in  peril 
and  not  plant  himself  by  their  sides.  So  he  'was 
minded  to  enter  in  unto  the  people,'  well  knowing  that 


vs.  21-34]  WILD  BEASTS  AT  EPHESUS     185 

there  he  had  to  face  more  ferocious  '  wild  beasts '  than 
if  a  cagef  ul  of  lions  had  been  loosed  on  him.  Faith  in 
God  and  fellowship  with  Christ  lift  a  soul  above  fear 
of  death.  The  noblest  kind  of  courage  is  not  that  born 
of  flesh  or  temperament,  or  of  the  madness  of  battle, 
but  that  which  springs  from  calm  trust  in  and  absolute 
surrender  to  Christ. 

Not  only  did  the  disciples  restrain  Paul  as  feeling 
that  if  the  shepherd  were  smitten  the  sheep  would  be 
scattered,  but  interested  friends  started  up  in  an 
unlikely  quarter.  The  '  chief  of  Asia '  or  Asiarchs,  who 
sent  to  dissuade  him,  •  were  the  heads  of  the  imperial 
political- religious  organisation  of  the  province,  in  the 
worship  of  "  Rome  and  the  emperors " ;  and  their 
friendly  attitude  is  a  proof  both  that  the  spirit  of  the 
imperial  policy  was  not  as  yet  hostile  to  the  new 
teaching,  and  that  the  educated  classes  did  not  share 
the  hostility  of  the  superstitious  vulgar '  (Ramsay, 
St.  Paul  the  Traveller,  p.  281).  It  is  probable  that, 
in  that  time  of  crumbling  faith  and  religious  unrest, 
the  people  who  knew  most  about  the  inside  of  the 
established  worship  believed  in  it  least,  and  in  their 
hearts  agreed  with  Paul  that  *  they  be  no  gods  which 
are  made  with  hands.' 

So  we  have  in  these  verses  the  central  picture  of 
calm  Christian  faith  and  patient  courage,  contrasted 
on  the  one  hand  with  the  ferocity  and  excitement  of 
heathen  fanatical  devotees,  and  on  the  other  with  the 
prudent  regard  to  their  own  safety  of  the  Asiarchs, 
who  had  no  such  faith  in  Diana  as  to  lead  them  to 
joining  the  rioters,  nor  such  faith  in  Paul's  message 
as  to  lead  them  to  oppose  the  tumult,  or  to  stand  by 
his  side,  but  contented  themselves  with  sending  to 
warn  him.    Who  can  doubt  that  the  courage  of  the 


186  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xix. 

Christians  is  infinitely  nobler  than  the  fury  of  the 
mob  or  the  cowardice  of  the  Asiarchs,  kindly  as  they 
were?  If  they  were  his  friends,  why  did  they  not 
do  something  to  shield  him  ?  '  A  plague  on  such 
backing ! ' 

III.  The  scene  in  the  theatre,  to  which  Luke  returns 
in  verse  32,  is  described  with  a  touch  of  scorn  for  the 
crowd,  who  mostly  knew  not  what  had  brought  them 
together.  One  section  of  it  kept  characteristically  cool 
and  sharp-eyed  for  their  own  advantage.  A  number 
of  Jews  had  mingled  in  it,  probably  intending  to  fan 
the  flame  against  the  Christians,  if  they  could  do  it 
safely.  As  in  so  many  other  cases  in  Acts,  common 
hatred  brought  Jew  and  Gentile  together,  each  pocket- 
ing for  the  time  his  disgust  with  the  other.  The  Jews 
saw  their  opportunity.  Half  a  dozen  cool  heads,  who 
know  what  they  want,  can  often  sway  a  mob  as  they 
will.  Alexander,  whom  they  'put  forward,'  was  no 
doubt  going  to  make  a  speech  disclaiming  for  the 
Jews  settled  in  Ephesus  any  connection  with  the 
obnoxious  Paul.  We  may  be  very  sure  that  his 
'  defence '  was  of  the  former,  not  of  the  latter. 

But  the  rioters  were  in  no  mood  to  listen  to  fine  dis- 
tinctions among  the  members  of  a  race  which  they 
hated  so  heartily.  Paul  was  a  Jew,  and  this  man  was 
a  Jew ;  that  was  enough.  So  the  roar  went  up  again 
to  Great  Diana,  and  for  two  long  hours  the  crowd 
surged  and  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  Gaius  and 
Aristarchus  standing  silent  all  the  while  and  expecting 
every  moment  to  be  their  last.  The  scene  reminds  one 
of  Baal's  priests  shrieking  to  him  on  Carmel.  It  is  but 
too  true  a  representation  of  the  wild  orgies  which 
stand  for  worship  in  all  heathen  religions.  It  is  but 
too  lively  an  example  of  what  must  always  happen 


vs. 21-34]        PARTING  COUNSELS  187 

when  excited  crowds  are  ignorantly  stirred  by  appeals 
to  prejudice  or  self-interest. 

The  more  democratic  the  form  of  government  under 
which  we  live,  the  more  needful  is  it  to  distinguish  the 
voice  of  the  people  from  the  voice  of  the  mob,  and 
to  beware  of  exciting,  or  being  governed  by,  clamour 
however  loud  and  long. 


PARTING  COUNSELS 

'And  now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  imto  Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the 
things  that  shall  befall  me  there :  23.  Save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth  in 
every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  aJiictions  abide  me.  24.  But  none  of  these 
things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish 
my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry,  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to 
testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  25.  And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  ye  all, 
among  whom  I  have  gone  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  shall  see  my  face  no 
more.  26.  Wherefore  I  take  you  to  record  this  day,  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood 
of  all  men.  27.  For  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God. 
28.  Take  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock,  over  the  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which  He  hath 
purchased  with  His  own  blood.  29.  For  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing  shall 
grievous  wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock.  30.  Also  of  your  own 
selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away  disciples  after 
them.  31.  Therefore  watch,  and  remember,  that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I 
ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears.  32.  And  now,  brethren, 
I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you 
up,  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  all  them  which  are  sanctified.  33.  I 
have  coveted  no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel.  34.  Yea,  ye  yourselves  know, 
that  these  hands  have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were 
with  me.  35.  1  have  shewed  you  all  things,  how  that  so  labouring  ye  ought  to 
support  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  He  said. 
It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'— Acts  xx.  22-35. 

This  parting  address  to  the  Ephesian  elders  is  perfect 
in  simplicity,  pathos,  and  dignity.  Love  without  weak- 
ness and  fervent  yet  restrained  self-devotion  throb  in 
every  line.  It  is  personal  without  egotism,  and  soars 
without  effort.  It  is  'Pauline'  through  and  through, 
and  if  Luke  or  some  unknown  second-century  Christian 
made  it,  the  world  has  lost  the  xiame  of  a  great  genius. 
In  reading  it,  we  have  to  remember  the  Apostle's  long 
Stay  in  Ephesus,  and  bia  firm  conviction  that  be  was 


188  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

parting  for  ever  from  those  over  whom  he  had  so  long 
watched,  and  so  long  loved,  as  well  as  guided.  Parting 
words  should  be  tender  and  solemn,  and  these  are  both 
in  the  highest  degree. 

The  prominence  given  to  personal  references  is  very- 
marked  and  equally  natural.  The  whole  address  down 
to  verse  27  inclusive  is  of  that  nature,  and  the  same 
theme  recurs  in  verse  31,  is  caught  up  again  in  verse 
33,  and  continues  thence  to  the  end.  That  abundance 
of  allusions  to  himself  is  characteristic  of  the  Apostle, 
even  in  his  letters;  much  more  is  it  to  be  looked  for 
in  such  an  outpouring  of  his  heart  to  trusted  friends, 
seen  for  the  last  time.  Few  religious  teachers  have 
ever  talked  so  much  of  themselves  as  Paul  did,  and 
yet  been  as  free  as  he  is  from  taint  of  display  or 
self-absorption. 

The  personal  references  in  verses  22  to  27  turn  on 
two  points — his  heroic  attitude  in  prospect  of  trials 
and  possible  martyrdom,  and  his  solemn  washing  his 
hands  of  all  responsibility  for  '  the  blood '  of  those  to 
whom  he  had  declared  all  the  counsel  of  God.  He 
looks  back,  and  his  conscience  witnesses  that  he  has 
discharged  his  ministry ;  he  looks  forward,  and  is  ready 
for  all  that  may  confront  him  in  still  discharging  it, 
even  to  the  bloody  end. 

Nothing  tries  a  man's  mettle  more  than  impending 
evil  which  is  equally  certain  and  undefined.  Add  that 
the  moment  of  the  sword's  falling  is  unknown,  and 
you  have  a  combination  which  might  shake  the  firmest 
nerves.  Such  a  combination  fronted  Paul  now.  He 
told  the  elders,  what  we  do  not  otherwise  know,  that 
at  every  halting-place  since  setting  his  face  towards 
Jerusalem  he  had  been  met  by  the  same  prophetic 
warnings  of  'bonds  and  afflictions'  waiting  for  him. 


vs.  22-35]        PARTING  COUNSELS  189 

The  warnings  were  vague,  and  so  the  more  impressive. 
Fear  has  a  vivid  imagination,  and  anticipates  the 
worst. 

Paul  was  not  afraid,  but  he  would  not  have  been 
human  if  he  had  not  recognised  the  short  distance  for 
him  between  a  prison  and  a  scaffold.  But  the  prospect 
did  not  turn  him  a  hairsbreadth  from  his  course.  True, 
he  was  '  bound  in  the  spirit,'  which  may  suggest  that 
he  was  not  so  much  going  joyfully  as  impelled  by  a 
constraint  felt  to  be  irresistible.  But  whatever  his 
feelings,  his  will  was  iron,  and  he  went  calmly  forward 
on  the  road,  though  he  knew  that  behind  some  turn 
of  it  lay  in  wait,  like  beasts  of  prey,  dangers  of  unknown 
kinds. 

And  what  nerved  him  thus  to  front  death  itself 
without  a  quiver?  The  supreme  determination  to  do 
what  Jesus  had  given  him  to  do.  He  knew  that  his 
Lord  had  set  him  a  task,  and  the  one  thing  needful 
was  to  accomplish  that.  We  have  no  such  obstacles 
in  our  course  as  Paul  had  in  his,  but  the  same  spirit 
must  mark  us  if  we  are  to  do  our  work.  Consciousness 
of  a  mission,  fixed  determination  to  carry  it  out,  and 
consequent  contempt  of  hindrances,  belong  to  all  noble 
lives,  and  especially  to  true  Christian  ones.  Perils 
and  hardships  and  possible  evils  should  have  no  more 
power  to  divert  us  from  the  path  which  Christ  marks 
for  us  than  storms  or  tossing  of  the  ship  have  to  deflect 
the  needle  from  pointing  north. 

It  is  easy  to  talk  heroically  when  no  foes  are  in 
sight ;  but  Paul  was  looking  dangers  in  the  eyes,  and 
felt  their  breath  on  his  cheeks  when  he  spoke.  His 
longing  was  to  'fulfil  his  course.'  'With  joy'  is  a 
weakening  addition.  It  was  not  'joy,'  but  the  dis- 
charge of  duty,  which  seemed  to  him  infinitely  desir- 


190  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xx. 

able.  What  was  aspiration  at  Miletus  became  fact 
when,  in  his  last  Epistle,  he  wrote,  '  I  have  finished  my 
course.* 

In  verses  25  to  27  the  Apostle  looks  back  as  well  as 
forward.  His  anticipation  that  he  was  parting  for 
ever  from  the  Ephesian  elders  was  probably  mistaken, 
but  it  naturally  leads  him  to  think  of  the  long  ministry 
among  them  which  was  now,  as  he  believed,  closed. 
And  his  retrospect  was  very  different  from  what  most 
of  us,  who  are  teachers,  feel  that  ours  must  be.  It  is  a 
solemn  thought  that  if  we  let  either  cowardice  or  love 
of  ease  and  the  good  opinion  of  men  hold  us  back  from 
speaking  out  all  that  we  know  of  God's  truth,  our  hands 
are  reddened  with  the  blood  of  souls. 

We  are  all  apt  to  get  into  grooves  of  favourite 
thoughts,  and  to  teach  but  part  of  the  whole  Gospel. 
If  we  do  not  seek  to  widen  our  minds  to  take  in,  and 
our  utterances  to  give  forth,  all  the  will  of  God  as 
seen  by  us,  our  limitations  and  repetitions  will  repel 
some  from  the  truth,  who  might  have  been  won  by  a 
completer  presentation  of  it,  and  their  blood  will  be 
required  at  our  hands.  None  of  us  can  reach  to  the 
apprehension,  in  its  full  extent  and  due  proportion 
of  its  parts,  of  that  great  gospel ;  but  we  may  at  least 
seek  to  come  nearer  the  ideal  completeness  of  a  teacher, 
and  try  to  remember  that  we  are  '  pure  from  the  blood 
of  all  men,'  only  when  we  have  not  '  shrunk  from 
declaring  all  God's  counsel.'  We  are  not  required  to 
know  it  completely,  but  we  are  required  not  to  shrink 
from  declaring  it  as  far  as  we  know  it. 

Paul's  purpose  in  this  retrospect  was  not  only  to 
vindicate  himself,  but  to  suggest  to  the  elders  their 
duty.  Therefore  he  passes  immediately  to  exhorta- 
tion to  them,  and  a  forecast  of   the  future  of    the 


vs.  22-35]        PARTING  COUNSELS  191 

Ephesian  Church.  'Take  heed  to  yourselves.'  The 
care  of  one's  own  soul  comes  first.  He  will  be  of  little 
use  to  the  Church  whose  own  personal  religion  is  not 
kept  warm  and  deep.  All  preachers  and  teachers  and 
men  who  influence  their  fellows  need  to  lay  to  heart 
this  exhortation,  especially  in  these  days  when  calls  to 
outward  service  are  so  multiplied.  The  neglect  of  it 
undermines  all  real  usefulness,  and  is  a  worm  gnawing 
at  the  roots  of  the  vines. 

We  note  also  the  condensed  weightiness  of  the 
following  exhortation,  in  which  solemn  reasons  are 
suggested  for  obeying  it.  The  divine  appointment  to 
office,  the  inclusion  of  the  'bishops'  in  the  flock,  the 
divine  ownership  of  the  flock,  and  the  cost  of  its 
purchase,  are  all  focussed  on  the  one  point,  'Take  heed 
to  all  the  flock.'  Of  course  a  comparison  with  verse  17 
shows  that  eldei^  and  bishop  were  two  designations  for 
one  officer;  but  the  question  of  the  primitive  organisa- 
tion of  church  offices,  important  as  it  is,  is  less  important 
than  the  great  thoughts  as  to  the  relation  of  the  Church 
to  God,  and  as  to  the  dear  price  at  which  men  have 
been  won  to  be  truly  His. 

We  note  the  reading  in  the  Revised  Version  of  v.  28 
(margin),  '  the  flock  of  the  Lord,'  but  do  not  discuss  it. 
The  chief  thought  of  the  verse  is  that  the  Church  is 
God's  flock,  and  that  the  death  of  Jesus  has  bought 
it  for  His,  and  that  negligent  under-shepherds  are 
therefore  guilty  of  grievous  sin. 

The  Apostle  had  premonitions  of  the  future  for  the 
Church  as  well  as  for  himself,  and  the  horizons  were 
dark  in  both  outlooks.  He  foresaw  evils  from  two 
quarters,  for  '  wolves '  would  come  from  without,  and 
perverse  teachers  would  arise  within,  drawing  the 
disciples  after  them  and  away  from  the  Lord.    The 


192  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES      [ch.  xx. 

simile  of  wolves  may  be  an  echo  of  Christ's  warning 
in  Matthew  vii.  15.  How  sadly  Paul's  anticipations 
were  fulfilled  the  Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Ephesus 
(Revelation  ii.)  shows  too  clearly.  Unslumbering  alert- 
ness, as  of  a  sentry  in  front  of  the  enemy,  is  needed 
if  the  slinking  onset  of  the  wolf  is  to  be  beaten  back. 
Paul  points  to  his  own  example,  and  that  in  no  vain- 
glorious spirit,  but  to  stimulate  and  also  to  show  how 
watchfulness  is  to  be  carried  out.  It  must  be  unceas- 
ing, patient,  tenderly  solicitous,  and  grieving  over  the 
falls  of  others  as  over  personal  calamities.  If  there 
were  more  such  '  shepherds,'  there  would  be  fewer 
stray  sheep. 

Anxious  forebodings  and  earnest  exhortations  natur- 
ally end  in  turning  to  God  and  invoking  His  protecting 
care.  The  Apostle's  heart  runs  over  in  his  last  words 
(vs.  32-35).  He  falls  back  for  himself,  in  the  prospect 
of  having  to  cease  his  care  of  the  Church,  on  the 
thought  that  a  better  Guide  will  not  leave  it,  and  he 
would  comfort  the  elders  as  well  as  himself  by  the 
remembrance  of  God's  power  to  keep  them.  So  Jacob, 
dying,  said,  'I  die,  but  God  shall  be  with  you.'  So 
Moses,  dying,  said,  '  The  Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  thou 
shalt  not  go  over  this  Jordan.  The  Lord  thy  God, 
He  will  go  before  thee.'  Not  even  Paul  is  indispens- 
able. The  under-shepherds  die,  the  Shepherd  lives,  and 
watches  against  wolves  and  dangers.  Paul  had  laid 
the  foundation,  and  the  edifice  would  not  stand  un- 
finished, like  some  half -reared  palace  begun  by  a  now 
dead  king.  The  growth  of  the  Church  and  of  its  indi- 
vidual members  is  sure.    It  is  wrought  by  God. 

His  instrument  is  *  the  word  of  His  grace.'  Therefore 
if  we  would  grow,  we  must  use  that  word.  Christian 
progress  is  no  more  possible,  if  the  word  of  God  is  not 


vs.  22-35]        PARTING  COUNSELS  193 

our  food,  than  is  an  infant's  growth  if  it  refuses  milk. 
That  building  up  or  growth  or  advance  (for  all  three 
metaphors  are  used,  and  mean  the  same  thing)  has  but 
one  natural  end,  the  entrance  of  each  redeemed  soul 
into  its  own  allotment  in  the  true  land  of  promise, 
the  inheritance  of  those  who  are  sanctified.  If  we  faith- 
fully use  that  word  which  tells  of  and  brings  God's 
grace,  that  we  may  grow  thereby.  He  will  bring  us  at 
last  to  dwell  among  those  who  here  have  growingly 
been  made  saints.  He  is  able  to  do  these  things.  It 
is  for  us  to  yield  to  His  power,  and  to  observe  the 
conditions  on  v/hich  it  will  work  on  us. 

Even  at  the  close  Paul  cannot  refrain  from  personal 
references.  He  points  to  his  example  of  absolute  dis- 
interestedness, and  with  a  dramatic  gesture  holds  out 
'  these  hands '  to  show  how  they  are  hardened  by  work. 
Such  a  warning  against  doing  God's  work  for  money 
would  not  have  been  his  last  word,  at  a  time  when  all 
hearts  were  strung  up  to  the  highest  pitch,  unless  the 
danger  had  been  very  real.  And  it  is  very  real  to-day. 
If  once  the  suspicion  of  being  influenced  by  greed  of 
gain  attaches  to  a  Christian  worker,  his  power  ebbs 
away,  and  his  words  lose  weight  and  impetus. 

It  is  that  danger  which  Paul  is  thinking  of  when 
he  tells  the  elders  that  by  '  labouring '  they  '  ought  to 
support  the  weak ' ;  for  by  weak  he  means  not  the 
poor,  but  those  imperfect  disciples  who  might  be  re- 
pelled or  made  to  stumble  by  the  sight  of  greed  in  an 
elder.  Shepherds  who  obviously  cared  more  for  wool 
than  for  the  sheep  have  done  as  much  harm  as  '  grievous 
wolves.' 

Paul  quotes  an  else  unrecorded  saying  of  Christ's 
which,  like  a  sovereign's  seal,  confirms  the  subject's 
words.    It  gathers  into  a  sentence  the  very  essence 

VOL.  II.  N 


194  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

of  Christian  morality.  It  reveals  the  inmost  secret 
of  the  blessedness  of  the  giving  God.  It  is  foolishness 
and  paradox  to  the  self-centred  life  of  nature.  It  is 
blessedly  true  in  the  experience  of  all  who,  having 
received  the  '  unspeakable  gift,'  have  thereby  been 
enfranchised  into  the  loftier  life  in  which  self  is  dead, 
and  to  which  it  is  delight,  kindred  with  God's  own 
blessedness,  to  impart. 


A  FULFILLED  ASPIRATION 

'  So  that  I  might  finish  my  course.  .  .  .'—Acts  xx.  24. 
*  I  have  finished  my  course.  .  .  .'—2  Tim.  iv.  7. 

I  DO  not  suppose  that  Paul  in  prison,  and  within  sight 
of  martyrdom,  remembered  his  words  at  Ephesus.  But 
the  fact  that  what  was  aspiration  whilst  he  was  in  the 
very  thick  of  his  difficulties  came  to  be  calm  retrospect 
at  the  close  is  to  me  very  beautiful  and  significant. 
'  So  that  I  may  finish  my  course,'  said  he  wistfully ; 
whilst  before  him  there  lay  dangers  clearly  discerned 
and  others  that  had  all  the  more  power  over  the  imagi- 
nation because  they  were  but  dimly  discerned — '  Not 
knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me  there,'  said  he, 
but  knowing  this,  that  '  bonds  and  afflictions  abide  me.' 
When  a  man  knows  exactly  what  he  has  to  be  afraid 
of  he  can  face  it.  When  he  knows  a  little  corner  of  it, 
and  also  knows  that  there  is  a  great  stretch  behind 
that  is  unknown,  that  is  a  state  of  things  that  tries  his 
mettle.  Many  a  man  will  march  up  to  a  battery  with- 
out a  tremor  who  would  not  face  a  hole  where  a 
snake  lay.  And  so  Paul's  ignorance,  as  well  as  Paul's 
knowledge,  made  it  very  hard  for  him  to  say  'None 
of  these  things  move  me'  if  only  'I  might  finish  my 
course.' 


V.24]      A  FULFILLED  ASPIRATION        195 

Now  there  are  in  these  two  passages,  thus  put 
together,  three  points  that  I  touch  for  a  moment. 
These  are,  What  Paul  thought  that  life  chiefly  was; 
what  Paul  aimed  at ;  and  what  Paul  won  thereby. 

I.  What  he  thought  that  life  chiefly  was. 

'  That  I  may  finish  my  course.'  Now  '  course,'  in  our 
modern  English,  is  far  too  feeble  a  word  to  express  the 
Apostle's  idea  here.  It  has  come  to  mean  with  us  a 
quiet  sequence  or  a  succession  of  actions  which,  taken 
together,  complete  a  career;  but  in  its  original  force 
the  English  word  '  course,'  and  still  more  the  Greek,  of 
which  it  is  a  translation,  contain  a  great  deal  more 
than  that.  If  we  were  to  read  '  race,'  we  should  get 
nearer  to  at  least  one  side  of  the  Apostle's  thought. 
This  was  the  image  under  which  life  presented  itself  to 
him,  as  it  does  to  every  man  that  does  anything  in  the 
world  worth  doing,  whether  he  be  Christian  or  not — 
as  being  not  a  place  for  enjoyment,  for  selfish  pursuits, 
making  money,  building  family,  satisfying  love,  seeking 
pleasure,  or  the  like ;  but  mainly  as  being  an  appointed 
field  for  a  succession  of  efforts,  all  in  one  direction,  and 
leading  progressively  to  an  end.  In  that  image  of  life 
as  a  race,  threadbare  as  it  is,  there  are  several  grave 
considerations  involved,  which  it  will  contribute  to  the 
nobleness  of  our  own  lives  to  keep  steadily  in  view. 

To  begin  with,  the  metaphor  regards  life  as  a  track 
or  path  marked  out  and  to  be  kept  to  by  us.  Paul 
thought  of  his  life  as  a  racecourse,  traced  for  him  by 
God,  and  from  which  it  would  be  perilous  and  rebellious 
to  diverge.  The  consciousness  of  definite  duties  loomed 
larger  than  anything  else  before  him.  His  first  waking 
thought  was, '  What  is  God's  will  for  me  to-day  ?  What 
stage  of  the  course  have  I  to  pass  over  to-day  ? '  Each 
moment  brought  to  him  an  appointed  task  which  at 


196  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xx. 

all  hazards  he  must  do.  And  this  elevating,  humbling, 
and  bracing  ever-present  sense  of  responsibility,  not 
merely  to  circumstances,  but  to  God,  is  an  indispens- 
able part  of  any  life  worth  the  living,  and  of  any  on 
which  a  man  will  ever  dare  to  look  back. 

'My  course.'  O  brethren!  if  we  carried  with  us, 
always  present,  that  solemn,  severe  sense  of  all-per- 
vading duty  and  of  obligation  laid  upon  us  to  pursue 
faithfully  the  path  that  is  appointed  us,  there  would 
be  less  waste,  less  selfishness,  less  to  regret,  and  less 
that  weakens  and  defiles,  in  the  lives  of  us  all.  And 
blessed  be  His  name!  however  trivial  be  our  tasks, 
however  narrow  our  spheres,  however  secular  and 
commonplace  our  businesses  or  trades,  we  may  write 
upon  them,  as  on  all  sorts  of  lives,  except  weak  and 
selfish  ones,  this  inscription,  '  Holiness  to  the  Lord.* 

The  broad  arrow  stamped  on  Crown  property  gives 
a  certain  dignity  to  whatever  bears  it,  and  whatever 
small  duty  has  the  name  of  God  written  across  it  is 
thereby  ennobled.  If  our  days  are  to  be  full-fraught 
with  the  serenity  and  purity  which  it  is  possible  for 
them  to  attain,  and  if  we  ourselves  are  to  put  forth  all 
our  powers  and  make  the  most  of  ourselves,  we  must 
cultivate  the  continual  sense  that  life  is  a  course — a 
series  of  definite  duties  marked  out  for  us  by  God. 

Again,  the  image  suggests  the  strenuous  efforts  needed 
for  discharge  of  our  appointed  tasks.  The  Apostle, 
like  all  men  of  imaginative  and  sensitive  nature,  was 
accustomed  to  speak  in  metaphors,  which  expressed 
his  fervid  convictions  more  adequately  than  more 
abstract  expressions  would  have  done.  That  vigorous 
figure  of  a  •  course '  speaks  more  strongly  of  the  stress 
of  continual  effort  than  many  words.  It  speaks  of  the 
straining  muscles,  and  the  intense  concentration,  and 


V.24]      A  FULFILLED  ASPIRATION        197 

the  forward-flung  body  of  the  runner  in  the  arena. 
Paul  says  in  effect,  '  I,  for  my  part,  live  at  high  pressure. 
I  get  the  most  that  I  can  out  of  myself.  I  do  the  very 
best  that  is  in  me.'    And  that  is  a  pattern  for  us. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  done  unless  we  are  contented 
to  live  on  the  stretch.  Easygoing  lives  are  always 
contemptible  lives.  A  man  who  never  does  anything 
except  what  he  can  do  easily  never  comes  to  do  any- 
thing greater  than  what  he  began  with,  and  never  does 
anything  worth  doing  at  all.  Effort  is  the  law  of  life 
in  all  departments,  as  we  all  of  us  know  and  practise 
in  regard  to  our  daily  business.  But  what  a  strange 
thing  it  is  that  we  seem  to  think  that  our  Christian 
characters  can  be  formed  and  perfected  upon  other 
conditions,  and  in  other  fashions,  than  those  by  which 
men  make  their  daily  bread  or  their  worldly  fortunes ! 

The  direction  which  effort  takes  is  different  in 
these  two  regions.  The  necessity  for  concentration 
and  vigorous  putting  into  operation  of  every  faculty  is 
far  more  imperative  in  the  Christian  course  than  in 
any  other  form  of  life. 

I  believe  most  earnestly  that  we  grow  Christlike,  not 
by  effort  only,  but  by  faith.  But  I  believe  that  there 
is  no  faith  without  effort,  and  that  the  growth  which 
comes  from  faith  will  not  be  appropriated  and  made 
ours  without  it.  And  so  I  preach,  without  in  the  least 
degree  feeling  that  it  impinges  upon  the  great  central 
truth  that  we  are  cleansed  and  perfected  by  the 
power  of  God  working  upon  us,  the  sister  truth  that 
we  must  'work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling.' 

Brethren,  unless  we  are  prepared  for  the  dust  and 
heat  of  the  race,  we  had  better  not  start  upon  the 
course.    Christian  men  have  an  appointed  task,  and  to 


198  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xx. 

do  it  will  take  all  the  effort  that  they  can  put  forth, 
and  will  assuredly  demand  continuous  concentration 
and  the  summoning  of  every  faculty  to  its  utmost 
energy. 

Still  further,  there  is  another  idea  that  lies  in  the 
emblem,  and  that  is  that  the  appointed  task  which 
thus  demands  the  whole  man  in  vigorous  exercise  ought 
in  fact  to  be,  and  in  its  nature  is,  progressive.  Is  the 
Christianity  of  the  average  church  member  and  profes- 
sing Christian  a  continuous  advance  ?  Is  to-day  better 
than  yesterday  ?  Are  former  attainments  continu- 
ally being  left  behind  ?  Does  it  not  seem  the  bitterest 
irony  to  talk  about  the  usual  life  of  a  Christian  as 
a  course  ?  Did  you  ever  see  a  squad  of  raw  recruits 
being  drilled  in  the  barrack-yard?  The  first  thing 
the  sergeants  do  is  to  teach  them  the  '  goose-step,' 
which  consists  in  lifting  up  one  foot  and  then  the 
other,  ad  infinitum,  and  yet  always  keeping  on  the 
same  bit  of  ground.  That  is  the  kind  of  '  course '  which 
hosts  of  so-called  Christians  content  themselves  with 
running — a  vast  deal  of  apparent  exercise  and  no 
advance.  They  are  just  at  the  same  spot  at  which 
they  stood  five,  ten,  or  twenty  years  ago;  not  a  bit 
wiser,  more  like  Christ,  less  like  the  devil  and  the 
world ;  having  gained  no  more  miastery  over  their 
characteristic  evils ;  falling  into  precisely  the  same 
faults  of  temper  and  conduct  as  they  used  to  do  in  the 
far-away  past.  By  what  right  can  they  talk  of  running 
the  Christian  race?  Progress  is  essential  to  real 
Christian  life. 

II.  Turn  now  to  another  thought  here,  and  consider 
what  Paul  aimed  at. 

It  is  a  very  easy  thing  for  a  man  to  say,  '  I  take  the 
discharge  of  my  duty,  given  to  me  by  Jesus  Christ,  as 


V.  24]      A  FULFILLED  ASPIRATION        199 

my  great  purpose  in  life,'  when  there  is  nothing  in  the 
way  to  prevent  him  from  carrying  out  that  purpose. 
But  it  is  a  very  different  thing  when,  as  was  the  case 
with  Paul,  there  lie  before  him  the  certainties  of  afflic- 
tion and  bonds,  and  the  possibilities  which  very  soon 
consolidated  themselves  into  certainties,  of  a  bloody 
death  and  that  swiftly.  To  say  then,  without  a 
quickened  pulse  or  a  tremor  in  the  eyelid,  or  a  quiver 
in  the  voice,  or  a  falter  in  the  resolution,  to  say  then, 
'  none  of  these  things  move  me,  if  only  I  may  do  what 
I  was  set  to  do ' — that  is  to  be  in  Christ  indeed ;  and 
that  is  the  only  thing  worth  living  for. 

Look  how  beautifully  we  see  in  operation  in  these 
heartfelt  and  few  words  of  the  Apostle  the  power  that 
there  is  in  an  absolute  devotion  to  God-enjoined  duty, 
to  give  a  man  '  a  solemn  scorn  of  ills,'  and  to  lift  him 
high  above  everything  that  would  bar  or  hinder  his 
path.  Is  it  not  bracing  to  see  any  one  actuated  by  such 
motives  as  these  ?  And  why  should  they  not  be  motives 
for  us  all  ?  The  one  thing  worth  our  making  our  aim 
in  life  is  to  accomplish  our  course. 

Now  notice  that  the  word  in  the  original  here, 
'  finish,'  does  not  merely  mean  '  end,'  which  would  be  a 
very  poor  thing.  Time  will  do  that  for  us  all.  It  will 
end  our  course.  But  an  ended  course  may  yet  be  an 
unfinished  course.  And  the  meaning  that  the  Apostle 
attaches  to  the  word  in  both  of  our  texts  is  not  merely 
to  scramble  through  anyhow,  so  as  to  get  to  the  last 
of  it ;  but  to  complete,  accomplish  the  course,  or,  to  put 
away  the  metaphor,  to  do  all  that  it  was  meant  by  God 
that  he  should  do. 

Now  some  very  early  transcriber  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  mistook  the  Apostle's  meaning,  and  thought 
that  he  only  said  that  he  desired  to  end  his  career; 


200  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xx. 

and  so,  with  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  he 
inserted,  probably  on  the  margin,  what  he  thought 
was  a  necessary  addition — that  unfortunate  '  with  joy,' 
which  appears  in  our  Authorised  Version,  but  has  no 
place  in  the  true  text.  If  we  put  it  in  we  necessarily 
limit  the  meaning  of  the  word  '  finish '  to  that  low, 
superficial  sense  which  I  have  already  dismissed.  If  we 
leave  it  out  we  get  a  far  nobler  thought.  Paul  was 
not  thinking  about  the  joy  at  the  end.  What  he 
wanted  was  to  do  his  work,  all  of  it,  right  through  to 
the  very  last.  He  knew  there  would  be  joy,  but  he 
does  not  speak  about  it.  What  he  wanted,  as  all  faith- 
ful men  do,  was  to  do  the  work,  and  let  the  joy  take 
care  of  itself. 

And  so  for  all  of  us,  the  true  anaesthetic  or  '  pain- 
killer '  is  that  all-dominant  sense  of  obligation  and  duty 
which  lays  hold  upon  us,  and  grips  us,  and  makes  us, 
not  exactly  indifferent  to,  but  very  partially  conscious 
of,  the  sorrows  or  the  hindrances  or  the  pains  that 
may  come  in  our  way.  You  cannot  stop  an  express 
train  by  stretching  a  rope  across  the  line,  nor  stay 
the  flow  of  a  river  with  a  barrier  of  straw.  And  if  a 
man  has  once  yielded  himself  fully  to  that  great  con- 
ception of  God's  will  driving  him  on  through  life,  and 
prescribing  his  path  for  him,  it  is  neither  in  sorrow 
nor  in  joy  to  arrest  his  course.  They  may  roll  all  the 
golden  apples  out  of  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides  in 
his  path,  and  he  will  not  stop  to  pick  one  of  them  up ; 
or  Satan  may  block  it  with  his  fiercest  flames,  and  the 
man  will  go  into  them,  saying,  '  When  I  pass  through 
the  fires  He  will  be  with  me.' 

III.  Lastly,  what  Paul  won  thereby. 

•  That  I  Tiiay  finish  my  course  ...  I  have  finished  my 
course ' ;  in  the  same  lofty  meaning,  not  merely  ended. 


V.24]       A  FULFILLED  ASPIRATION      201 

though  that  was  true,  but  *  completed,  accomplished, 
perfected.' 

Now  some  hyper-sensitive  people  have  thought  that 
it  was  very  strange  that  the  Apostle,  who  was  always 
preaching  the  imperfection  of  all  human  obedience 
and  service,  should,  at  the  end  of  his  life,  indulge  in 
such  a  piece  of  what  they  fancy  was  self-complacent 
retrospect  as  to  say  'I  have  kept  the  faith;  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  my  course.' 
But  it  was  by  no  means  complacent  self -righteousness. 
Of  course  he  did  not  mean  that  he  looked  back  upon 
a  career  free  from  faults  and  flecks  and  stains.  No. 
There  is  only  one  pair  of  human  lips  that  ever  could 
say,  in  the  full  significance  of  the  word,  *  It  is  finished ! 
...  I  have  completed  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  Me 
to  do.'  Jesus  Christ's  retrospect  of  a  stainless  career, 
without  defect  or  discordance  at  any  point  from  the 
divine  ideal,  is  not  repeated  in  any  of  His  servants' 
experiences.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  a  man  in  the 
middle  of  his  difficulties  and  his  conflict  pulls  himself 
habitually  together  and  says  to  himself,  'Nothing 
shall  move  me,  so  that  I  may  complete  this  bit  of  my 
course,'  depend  upon  it,  his  effort,  his  believing  effort, 
will  not  be  in  vain ;  and  at  the  last  he  will  be  able  to 
look  back  on  a  career  which,  though  stained  with  many 
imperfections,  and  marred  with  many  failures,  yet  on 
the  whole  has  realised  the  divine  purpose,  though  not 
with  absolute  completeness,  at  least  sufficiently  to 
enable  the  faithful  servant  to  feel  that  all  his  struggle 
has  not  been  in  vain. 

Brethren,  no  one  else  can.  And  oh !  how  different 
the  two  '  courses '  of  the  godly  man  and  the  worldling 
look,  in  their  relative  importance,  when  seen  from  this 
side,  as  we  are  advancing  towards  them,  and  from  the 


202  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

other  as  we  look  back  upon  them !  Pleasures,  escape 
from  pains,  ease,  comfort,  popularity,  quiet  lives — all 
these  things  seem  very  attractive ;  and  God's  will  often 
seems  very  hard  and  very  repulsive,  when  we  are 
advancing  towards  some  unwelcome  duty.  But  when 
we  get  beyond  it  and  look  back,  the  two  careers  have 
changed  their  characters ;  and  all  the  joys  that  could  be 
bought  at  the  price  of  the  smallest  neglected  duty  or 
the  smallest  perpetrated  sin,  dwindle  and  dwindle  and 
dwindle,  and  the  light  is  out  of  them,  and  they  show 
for  what  they  are — nothings,  gilded  nothings,  painted 
emptinesses,  lies  varnished  over.  And  on  the  other 
hand,  to  do  right,  to  discharge  the  smallest  duty,  to 
recognise  God's  will,  and  with  faithful  effort  to  seek  to 
do  it  in  dependence  upon  Him,  that  towers  and  towers 
and  towers,  and  there  seems  to  be,  as  there  really  is, 
nothing  else  worth  living  for. 

So  let  us  live  with  the  continual  remembrance  in  our 
minds  that  all  which  we  do  has  to  be  passed  in  review 
by  us  once  more,  from  another  standpoint,  and  with 
another  illumination  falling  upon  it.  And  be  sure  of 
this,  that  the  one  thing  worth  looking  back  upon,  and 
possible  to  be  looked  back  upon  with  peace  and  quiet- 
ness, is  the  humble,  faithful,  continual  discharge  of  our 
appointed  tasks  for  the  dear  Lord's  sake.  If  you  and 
I,  whilst  work  and  troubles  last,  do  truly  say,  'None 
of  these  things  move  me,  so  that  I  might  finish  my 
course,'  we  too,  with  all  our  weaknesses,  may  be  able 
to  say  at  the  last, '  Thanks  be  to  God !  I  have  finished 
my  course.' 


PARTING  WORDS* 

'  And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.  .  .  . 
—Acts  xx.  32. 

I  MAY  be  pardoned  if  my  remarks  now  should  assume 
somewhat  of  a  more  personal  character  than  is  my 
wont.  I  desire  to  speak  mainly  to  my  own  friends, 
the  members  of  my  own  congregation;  and  other 
friends  who  have  come  to  give  me  a  parting  'God- 
speed '  will  forgive  me  if  my  observations  have  a  more 
special  bearing  on  those  with  whom  I  am  more 
immediately  connected. 

The  Apostle  whose  words  I  have  taken  for  my  text 
was  leaving,  as  he  supposed,  for  the  last  time,  the 
representatives  of  the  Church  in  Ephesus,  to  whom  he 
had  been  painting  in  very  sombre  colours  the  dangers 
of  the  future  and  his  own  forebodings  and  warnings. 
Exhortations,  prophecies  of  evil,  expressions  of  anxious 
solicitude,  motions  of  Christian  affection,  all  culminate 
in  this  parting  utterance.  High  above  them  all  rises 
the  thought  of  the  present  God,  and  of  the  mighty 
word  which  in  itself,  in  the  absence  of  all  human 
teachers,  had  power  to  'build  them  up,  and  to  give 
them  an  inheritance  amongst  them  that  are  sanctified.' 

If  we  think  of  that  Church  in  Ephesus,  this  brave  con- 
fidence of  the  Apostle's  becomes  yet  more  remarkable. 
They  were  set  in  the  midst  of  a  focus  of  heathen  super- 
stition, from  which  they  themselves  had  only  recently 
been  rescued.  Their  knowledge  was  little,  they  had  no 
Apostolic  teacher  to  be  present  with  them ;  they  were 
left  alone  there  to  battle  with  the  evils  of  that  corrupt 
society  in  which  they  dwelt.  And  yet  Paul  leaves 
them — 'sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves,'  with  a  very 
imperfect  Christianity,  with  no  Bible,  with  no  teachers 
— in  the  sure  confidence  that  no  harm  will  come  to 

1  Preached  prior  to  a  long  absence  in  Australia. 

20S 


204  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

them,  because  God  is  with  them,  and  the  '  word  of  His 
grace'  is  enough. 

And  that  is  the  feeling,  dear  brethren,  with  which  I 
now  look  you  in  the  face  for  the  last  time  for  a  little 
while.  I  desire  that  you  and  I  should  together  share 
the  conviction  that  each  of  us  is  safe  because  God  and 
the  '  word  of  His  grace '  will  go  and  remain  with  us. 

I.  So  then,  first  of  all,  let  me  point  you  to  the  one 
source  of  security  and  enlightenment  for  the  Church 
and  for  the  individual. 

We  are  not  to  separate  between  God  and  the  '  word 
of  His  grace,'  but  rather  to  suppose  that  the  way  by 
which  the  Apostle  conceived  of  God  as  working  for  the 
blessing  and  the  guardianship  of  that  little  community 
in  Ephesus  was  mainly,  though  not  exclusively,  through 
that  which  he  here  designates  '  the  word  of  His  grace.' 
We  are  not  to  forget  the  ever-abiding  presence  of  the 
indwelling  Spirit  who  guards  and  keeps  the  life  of  the 
individual  and  of  the  community.  But  what  is  in  the 
Apostle's  mind  here  is  the  objective  revelation,  the 
actual  spoken  word  (not  yet  written)  which  had  its 
origin  in  God's  condescending  love,  and  had  for  its  con- 
tents, mainly,  the  setting  forth  of  that  love.  Or  to  put 
it  into  other  words,  the  revelation  of  the  grace  of  God 
in  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  the  great  truths  that  cluster 
round  and  are  evolved  from  it,  is  the  all-sufficient 
source  of  enlightenment  and  security  for  individuals 
and  for  Churches.  And  whosoever  will  rightly  use  and 
faithfully  keep  that  great  v^ord,  no  evil  shall  befall 
him,  nor  shall  he  ever  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith.  It 
is  '  able  to  build  you  up,'  says  Paul.  In  God's  Gospel, 
in  the  truth  concerning  Jesus  Christ  the  divine 
Redeemer,  in  the  principles  that  flow  from  that  Cross 
and  Passion,  and  that  risen  life  and   that  ascension 


V.  32]  PARTING  WORDS  205 

to  God,  there  is  all  that  men  need,  all  that  they  want 
for  life,  all  that  they  want  for  godliness.  The  basis  of 
their  creed,  the  sufficient  guide  for  their  conduct,  the 
formative  powers  that  will  shape  into  beauty  and 
nobleness  their  characters,  all  lie  in  the  germ  in  this 
message,  '  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself.'  Whoever  keeps  that  in  mind  and  memory, 
ruminates  upon  it  till  it  becomes  the  nourishment  of  his 
soul,  meditates  on  it  till  the  precepts  and  the  promises 
and  the  principles  that  are  enwrapped  in  it  unfold 
themselves  before  Him,  needs  none  other  guide  for  life, 
none  other  solace  in  sorrow,  none  other  anchor  of 
hope,  none  other  stay  in  trial  and  in  death.  '  I  com- 
mend you  to  God  and  the  word  of  His  grace,'  which  is 
a  storehouse  full  of  all  that  we  need  for  life  and  for 
godliness.  Whoever  has  it  is  like  a  landowner  who 
has  a  quarry  on  his  estate,  from  which  at  will  he  can 
dig  stones  to  build  his  house.  If  you  truly  possess  and 
faithfully  adhere  to  this  Gospel,  you  have  enough. 

Remember  that  these  believers  to  whom  Paul  thus 
spoke  had  no  New  Testament,  and  most  of  them,  I  dare 
say,  could  not  read  the  Old.  There  were  no  written 
Gospels  in  existence.  The  greater  part  of  the  New 
Testament  was  not  written ;  what  was  written  was 
in  the  shape  of  two  or  three  letters  that  belonged  to 
Churches  in  another  part  of  the  world  altogether.  It 
was  to  the  spoken  word  that  he  commended  them. 
How  much  more  securely  may  we  trust  one  another 
to  that  permanent  record  of  the  divine  revelation 
which  we  have  here  in  the  pages  of  Scripture ! 

As  for  the  individual,  so  for  the  Church,  that  written 
word  is  the  guarantee  for  its  purity  and  immortality. 
Christianity  is  the  only  religion  that  has  ever  passed 
through  periods  of  decadence  and  purified  itself  again, 


206  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

They  used  to  say  that  Thames  water  was  the  best  to 
put  ou  shipboard  because,  after  it  became  putrid,  it 
cleared  itself  and  became  sweet  again.  I  do  not  know 
anything  about  whether  that  is  true  or  not,  but  I 
know  that  it  is  true  about  Christianity.  Over  and 
over  again  it  has  rotted,  and  over  and  over  again  it 
has  cleared  itself,  and  it  has  always  been  by  the  one 
process.  Men  have  gone  back  to  the  word  and  laid 
hold  again  of  it  in  its  simple  omnipotence,  and  so  a 
decadent  Christianity  has  sprung  up  again  into  purity 
and  power.  The  word  of  God,  the  principles  of  the 
revelation  contained  in  Christ  and  recorded  for  ever  in 
this  New  Testament,  are  the  guarantee  of  the  Church's 
immortality  and  of  the  Church's  purity.  This  man  and 
that  man  may  fall  away,  provinces  may  be  lost  from  the 
empire  for  a  while,  standards  of  rebellion  and  heresy 
may  be  lifted,  but '  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,' 
and  whoever  will  hark  back  again  and  dig  down  through 
the  rubbish  of  human  buildings  to  the  living  Rock  will 
build  secure  and  dwell  at  peace.  If  all  our  churches 
were  pulverised  to-morrow,  and  every  formal  creed  of 
Christendom  were  torn  in  pieces,  and  all  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Church  were  annihilated — if  there  was  a 
New  Testament  left  they  would  all  be  built  up  again. 
•  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.' 

II.  Secondly,  notice  the  possible  benefit  of  the 
silencing  of  the  human  voice. 

Paul  puts  together  his  absence  and  the  power  of  the 
word.  '  Now  I  know  that  you  will  see  my  face  no 
more ' — *  I  commend  you  to  God.'  That  is  to  say,  it  is 
often  a  good  thing  that  the  voice  of  man  may  be 
hushed  in  order  that  the  sweeter  and  deeper  music  of 
the  word  of  God,  sounding  from  no  human  lips,  may 
reach    our    hearts.      Of    course   I    am    not    going    to 


V.  32]  PARTING  WORDS  207 

depreciate  preachers  and  books  and  religious  literature 
and  the  thought  and  the  acts  of  good  and  wise  men 
who  have  been  interpreters  of  God's  meaning  and  will 
to  their  brethren,  but  the  human  ministration  of  the 
divine  word,  like  every  other  help  to  knowing  God,  may 
become  a  hindrance  instead  of  a  help ;  and  in  all  such 
helps  there  is  a  tendency,  unless  there  be  continual 
jealous  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  those  who  minister 
them,  and  on  the  part  of  those  who  use  them,  to  assert 
themselves  instead  of  leading  to  God,  and  to  become  not 
mirrors  in  which  we  may  behold  God,  but  obscuring 
media  which  come  between  us  and  Him.  This  danger 
belongs  to  the  great  ordinance  and  office  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  large  as  its  blessings  are,  just  as  it 
belongs  to  all  other  offices  which  are  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  men  to  God.  We  may  make  them 
ladders  or  we  may  make  them  barriers ;  we  may  climb 
by  them  or  we  may  remain  in  them.  We  may  look  at 
the  colours  on  the  painted  glass  until  we  do  not  see  or 
think  of  the  light  which  strikes  through  the  colours. 

So  it  is  often  a  good  thing  that  a  human  voice  which 
speaks  the  divine  word,  should  be  silenced;  just  as 
it  is  often  a  good  thing  that  other  helps  and  props 
should  be  taken  away.  No  man  ever  leans  all  his 
weight  upon  God's  arm  until  every  other  crutch  on 
which  he  used  to  lean  has  been  knocked  from  him. 

And  therefore,  dear  brethren,  applying  these  plain 
things  to  ourselves,  may  I  not  say  that  it  may  and 
should  be  the  result  of  my  temporary  absence  from  you 
that  some  of  you  should  be  driven  to  a  more  first-hand 
acquaintance  with  God  and  with  His  word  ?  I,  like  all 
Christian  ministers,  have  of  course  my  favourite  ways 
of  looking  at  truth,  limitations  of  temperament,  and 
idiosyncrasies  of  various  sorts,  which  colour  the  repre- 


208  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xx. 

sentations  that  I  make  of  God's  great  word.  All  the 
river  cannot  run  through  any  pipe ;  and  what  does  run 
is  sure  to  taste  somewhat  of  the  soil  through  which  it 
runs.  And  for  some  of  you,  after  thirty  years  of 
hearing  my  way  of  putting  things — and  I  have  long 
since  told  you  all  that  I  have  got  to  say — it  will  be  a 
good  thing  to  have  some  one  else  to  speak  to  you,  who 
will  come  with  other  aspects  of  that  great  Truth,  and 
look  at  it  from  other  angles  and  reflect  other  hues 
of  its  perfect  whiteness.  So  partly  because  of  these 
limitations  of  mine,  partly  because  you  have  grown  so 
accustomed  to  my  voice  that  the  things  that  I  say  do 
not  produce  half  as  much  effect  on  many  of  you  as  if  I 
were  saying  them  to  somebody  else,  or  somebody  else 
were  saying  them  to  you,  and  partly  because  the 
affection,  born  of  so  many  years  of  united  worship,  for 
which  in  many  respects  I  am  your  debtor,  may  lead 
you  to  look  at  the  vessel  rather  than  the  treasure,  do 
you  not  think  it  may  be  a  means  of  blessing  and  help 
to  this  congregation  that  I  should  step  aside  for  a  little 
while  and  some  one  else  should  stand  here,  and  you 
should  be  driven  to  make  acquaintance  with  '  God  and 
the  word  of  His  grace'  a  little  more  for  yourselves? 
What  does  it  matter  though  you  do  not  have  my 
sermons?  You  have  your  Bibles  and  you  have  God's 
Spirit.  And  if  my  silence  shall  lead  any  of  you  to  prize 
and  to  use  these  more  than  you  have  done,  then  my 
silence  will  have  done  a  great  deal  more  than  my 
speech.  Ministers  are  like  doctors,  the  test  of  their 
success  is  that  they  are  not  needed  any  more.  And 
when  we  can  say,  'They  can  stand  without  us,  and 
they  do  not  need  us,'  that  is  the  crown  of  our  ministry. 
III.  Thirdly,  notice  the  best  expression  of  Christian 
solicitude  and  affection. 


V.  32]  PARTING  WORDS  209 

•  I  commend  you,'  says  Paul, '  to  God,  and  to  the  word 
of  His  grace.'  If  we  may  venture  upon  a  very  literal 
translation  of  the  word,  it  is,  '  I  lay  you  down  beside 
God.'  That  is  beautiful,  is  it  not  ?  Here  had  Paul  been 
carrying  the  Ephesian  Church  on  his  back  for  a  long 
time  now.  He  had  many  cares  about  them,  many 
forebodings  as  to  their  future,  knowing  very  well  that 
after  his  departure  grievous  wolves  were  going  to 
enter  in.  He  says,  'I  cannot  carry  the  load  any 
longer ;  here  I  lay  it  down  at  the  Throne,  beneath 
those  pure  Eyes,  and  that  gentle  and  strong  Hand.' 
For  to  commend  them  to  God  is  in  fact  a  prayer 
casting  the  care  which  Paul  could  no  longer  exercise, 
upon  Him. 

And  that  is  the  highest  expression  of,  as  it  is  the 
only  soothing  for,  manly  Christian  solicitude  and 
affection.  Of  course  you  and  I,  looking  forward  to 
these  six  months  of  absence,  have  all  of  us  our 
anxieties  about  what  may  be  the  issue.  I  may  feel 
afraid  lest  there  should  be  flagging  here,  lest  good 
work  should  be  done  a  little  more  languidly,  lest  there 
should  be  a  beggarly  account  of  empty  pews  many  a 
time,  lest  the  bonds  of  Christian  union  here  should  be 
loosened,  and  when  I  come  back  I  may  find  it  hard 
work  to  reknit  them.  All  these  thoughts  must  be  in 
the  mind  of  a  true  man  who  has  put  most  of  his  life, 
and  as  much  of  himself  as  during  that  period  he  could 
command,  into  his  work.  What  then  ?  '  I  commend 
you  to  God.'  You  may  have  your  thoughts  and 
anxieties  as  well  as  I  have  mine.  Dear  brethren,  let 
us  make  an  end  of  solicitude  and  turn  it  into  peti- 
tion and  bring  one  another  to  God,  and  leave  one 
another  there. 

This  *  commending,'  as  it  is  the  highest  expression  of 
VOL.  II.  o 


210  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES      [ch.  xx. 

Christian  solicitude,  so  it  is  the  highest  and  most 
natural  expression  of  Christian  affection.  I  am  not 
going  to  do  what  is  so  easy  to  do — bring  tears  at  such 
a  moment.  I  do  not  purpose  to  speak  of  the  depth,  the 
sacredness  of  the  bond  that  unites  a  great  many  of  us 
together.  I  think  we  can  take  that  for  granted 
without  saying  any  more  about  it.  But,  dear  brethren, 
I  do  want  to  pledge  you  and  myself  to  this,  that  our 
solicitude  and  our  affection  should  find  voice  in  prayer, 
and  that  when  we  are  parted  we  may  be  united, 
because  the  eyes  of  both  are  turned  to  the  one  Throne. 
There  is  a  reality  in  prayer.  Do  you  pray  for  me,  as 
I  will  for  you,  when  we  are  far  apart.  And  as  the 
vapour  that  rises  from  the  southern  seas  where  I  go 
may  fall  in  moisture,  refreshing  these  northern  lands, 
so  what  rises  on  one  side  of  the  world  from  believ- 
ing hearts  in  loving  prayers  may  fall  upon  the  other  in 
the  rain  of  a  divine  blessing.  '  I  commend  you  to  God, 
and  the  word  of  His  grace.' 

IV.  Lastly,  notice  the  parting  counsels  involved  in 
the  commendation. 

If  it  be  true  that  God  and  His  Word  are  the  source 
of  all  security  and  enlightenment,  and  are  so,  apart 
altogether  from  human  agencies,  then  to  commend 
these  brethren  to  God  was  exhortation  as  well  as 
prayer,  and  implied  pointing  them  to  the  one  source  of 
security  that  they  might  cling  to  that  source.  I  am 
going  to  give  no  advices  about  little  matters  of  church 
order  and  congregational  prosperity.  These  will  all 
come  right,  if  the  two  main  exhortations  that  are 
involved  in  this  text  are  laid  to  heart ;  and  if  they  are 
not  laid  to  heart,  then  I  do  not  care  one  rush  about  the 
smaller  things,  of  full  pews  and  prosperous  subscrip- 
tion lists  and  Christian  work.     These  are  secondary, 


V.32]  PARTING  WORDS  211 

and  they  will  be  consequent  if  you  take  these  two 
advices  that  are  couched  in  my  text : — 

(a)  '  Cleave  to  the  Lord  with  full  purpose  of  heart,' 
as  the  limpet  does  to  the  rock.  Cling  to  Jesus  Christ, 
the  revelation  of  God's  grace.  And  how  do  we  cling  to 
Him  ?  What  is  the  cement  of  souls  ?  Love  and  trust ; 
and  whoever  exercises  these  in  reference  to  Jesus 
Christ  is  built  into  Him,  and  belongs  to  Him,  and  has  a 
vital  unity  knitting  him  with  that  Lord.  Cleave  to 
Christ,  brother,  by  faith  and  love,  by  communion  and 
prayer,  and  by  practical  conformity  of  life.  For 
remember  that  the  union  which  is  effected  by  faith 
can  be  broken  by  sin,  and  that  there  will  be  no  reality 
in  our  union  to  Jesus  unless  it  is  manifested  and 
perpetuated  by  righteousness  of  conduct  and  character. 
Two  smoothly-ground  pieces  of  glass  pressed  together 
will  adhere.  If  there  be  a  speck  of  sand,  microscopic  in 
dimensions,  between  the  two,  they  will  fall  apart ;  and 
if  you  let  tiny  grains  of  sin  come  between  you  and 
your  Master,  it  is  delusion  to  speak  of  being  knit  to 
Him  by  faith  and  love.  Keep  near  Jesus  Christ  and 
you  will  be  safe. 

(b)  Cleave  to  '  the  word  of  His  grace.'  Try  to  under- 
stand its  teachings  better;  study  your  Bibles  with 
more  earnestness ;  believe  more  fully  than  you  have 
ever  done  that  in  that  great  Gospel  there  lie  every 
truth  that  we  need  and  guidance  in  all  circumstances. 
Bring  the  principles  of  Christianity  into  your  daily 
life;  walk  by  the  light  of  them;  and  live  in  the 
radiance  of  a  present  God.  And  then  all  these  other 
matters  which  I  have  spoken  of,  which  are  important, 
highly  important  but  secondary,  will  come  right. 

Many  of  you,  dear  brethren,  have  listened  to  my 
voice  for  long  years,  and  have  not  done  the  one  thing 


212  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

for  which  I  preach — viz.  set  your  faith,  as  sinful  men, 
on  the  great  atoning  Sacrifice  and  Incarnate  Lord.  I 
beseech  you  let  my  last  word  go  deeper  than  its  prede- 
cessors, and  yield  yourselves  to  God  in  Christ,  bringing 
all  your  weakness  and  all  your  sin  to  Him,  and 
trusting  yourselves  wholly  and  utterly  to  His  sacrifice 
and  life. 

'I  commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His 
grace,'  and  beseech  you  '  that,  whether  I  come  to  see 
you  or  else  be  absent,  I  may  hear  of  your  affairs,  that 
ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  mind  striving 
together  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.' 


THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  GIVING 

* ...  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'— Acts  xx.  35. 

How  *  many  other  things  Jesus  did '  and  said  '  which 
are  not  written  in  this  book'!  Here  is  one  precious 
unrecorded  word,  which  was  floating  down  to  the 
ocean  of  oblivion  when  Paul  drew  it  to  shore  and  so 
enriched  the  world.  There  is,  however,  a  saying  re- 
corded, which  is  essentially  parallel  in  content  though 
differing  in  garb,  'The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister.'  It  is  tempting  to 
think  that  the  text  gives  a  glimpse  into  the  deep  foun- 
tains of  the  pure  blessedness  of  Jesus  Himself,  and  was 
a  transcript  of  His  own  human  experience.  It  helps 
us  to  understand  how  the  Man  of  Sorrows  could  give 
as  a  legacy  to  His  followers  '  My  joy,'  and  could  speak 
of  it  as  abiding  and  full. 

I.  The  reasons  on  which  this  saying  rests. 

It  is  based  not  only  on  the  fact  that  the  act  of  giving 


V.35]  THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  GIVING    213 

has  in  it  a  sense  of  power  and  of  superiority,  and  that 
the  act  of  receiving  may  have  a  painful  consciousness 
of  obligation,  though  a  cynic  might  endorse  it  on  that 
ground,  but  on  a  truth  far  deeper  than  these,  that  there 
is  a  pure  and  godlike  joy  in  making  others  blessed. 

The  foundation  on  which  the  axiom  rests  is  that 
giving  is  the  result  of  love  and  self-sacrifice.  Whenever 
they  are  not  found,  the  giving  is  not  the  giving  which 
•  blesses  him  that  gives.'  If  you  give  with  some  arriere 
pensee  of  what  you  will  get  by  it,  or  for  the  sake  of 
putting  some  one  under  obligation,  or  indifferently 
as  a  matter  of  compulsion  or  routine,  if  with  your 
alms  there  be  contempt  to  which  pity  is  ever  near  akin, 
then  these  are  not  examples  of  the  giving  on  which 
Christ  pronounced  His  benediction.  But  where  the 
heart  is  full  of  deep,  real  love,  and  where  that  love 
expresses  itself  by  a  cheerful  act  of  self-sacrifice,  then 
there  is  felt  a  glow  of  calm  blessedness  far  above  the 
base  and  greedy  joys  of  self-centred  souls  who  delight 
only  in  keeping  their  possessions,  or  in  using  them  for 
themselves.  It  comes  not  merely  from  contemplating 
the  relief  or  happiness  in  others  of  which  our  gifts  may 
have  been  the  source,  but  from  the  working  in  our  own 
hearts  of  these  two  godlike  emotions.  To  be  delivered 
from  making  myself  my  great  object,  and  to  be  de- 
livered from  the  undue  value  set  upon  having  and 
keeping  our  possessions,  are  the  twin  factors  of  true 
blessedness.  It  is  heaven  on  earth  to  love  and  to  give 
oneself  away. 

Then  again,  the  highest  joy  and  noblest  use  of  all 
our  possessions  is  found  in  imparting  them. 

True  as  to  this  world's  goods. 

The  old  epitaph  is  profoundly  true,  which  puts  into 
the  dead  lips  the  declaration:   'What  I  kept  I  lost. 


214  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.  xx. 

What  I  gave  I  kept.'  Better  to  learn  that  and  act  on 
it  while  living ! 

True  as  to  truth,  and  knowledge. 

True  as  to  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

11.  The  great  example  in  God  of  the  blessedness  of 
giving. 

God  gives — gives  only — gives  always — and  He  in 
giving  has  joy,  blessedness.  He  would  not  be  '  the 
ever-blessed  God '  unless  He  were  '  the  giving  God.' 
Creation  we  are  perhaps  scarcely  warranted  in  affirm- 
ing to  be  a  necessity  to  the  divine  nature,  and  we  run 
on  perilous  heights  of  speculation  when  we  speak  of  it 
as  contributing  to  His  blessedness ;  but  this  at  least  we 
may  say,  that  He,  in  the  deep  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
•delights  in  mercy.'  Before  creation  was  realised  in 
time,  the  divine  Idea  of  it  was  eternal,  inseparable  from 
His  being,  and  therefore  from  everlasting  He  '  rejoiced 
in  the  habitable  parts  of  the  earth,  and  His  delights 
were  with  the  sons  of  men.' 

The  light  and  glory  thus  thrown  on  His  relation  to  us. 

He  gives.  He  does  not  exact  until  He  has  given.  He 
gives  what  He  requires.  The  requirement  is  made  in 
love  and  is  itself  a  '  grace  given,'  for  it  permits  to  God's 
creatures,  in  their  relation  to  Him,  some  feeble  portion 
and  shadow  of  the  blessedness  which  He  possesses,  by 
permitting  them  to  bring  offerings  to  His  throne,  and 
so  to  have  the  joy  of  giving  to  Him  what  He  has  given 
to  them.  '  All  things  come  of  Thee,  and  of  Thine  own 
have  we  given  Thee.'  Then  how  this  thought  puts  an 
end  to  all  manner  of  slavish  notions  about  God's  com- 
mands and  demands,  and  about  worship,  and  about 
merits,  or  winning  heaven  by  our  own  works. 

Notice  that  the  same  emotions  which  we  have  found 
to  make  the  blessedness  of  giving  are  those  which 


V.35]         NEARER  TO  THE  STORM  215 

come  into  play  in  the  act  of  receiving  spiritual  bless- 
ings. We  receive  the  Gospel  by  faith,  which  assuredly 
has  in  it  love  and  self-sacrifice. 

Having  thus  the  great  Example  of  all  giving  in 
heaven,  and  the  shadow  and  reflex  of  that  example  in 
our  relations  to  Him  on  earth,  we  are  thereby  fitted 
for  the  exemplification  of  it  in  our  relation  to  men. 
To  give,  not  to  get,  is  to  be  our  work,  to  love,  to  sacri- 
fice ourselves. 

This  axiom  should  regulate  Christians'  relation  to 
the  world,  and  to  each  other,  in  every  way.  It  should 
shape  the  Christian  use  of  money.  It  should  shape  our 
use  of  all  which  we  have. 


DRAWING  NEARER  TO  THE  STORM 

'  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  after  we  were  gotten  from  them,  and  had  launched, 
we  came  with  a  straiajht  course  unto  Coos,  and  the  day  following  unto  Rhodes, 
and  from  thence  uulo  Patara :  2.  And  finding  a  ship  sailing  over  unto  Phenicia, 
we  went  aboard,  and  set  forth.  3.  Now  when  we  had  discovered  Cyprus,  we  left 
it  on  the  left  hand,  and  sailed  into  Syria,  and  landed  at  Tyre  :  for  there  the  ship 
was  to  unlade  her  burden.  4.  And  finding  disciples,  we  tarried  there  seven  days: 
who  said  to  Paul  through  the  Spirit,  that  he  should  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 
5.  And  when  we  had  accomplished  those  days,  we  departed  and  went  our  way ; 
and  they  all  brought  us  on  our  way,  with  wives  and  children,  tiU  we  were  out  of 
the  ciLy  :  and  wo  kneeled  down  on  the  shore,  and  prayed.  6.  And  when  we  had 
taken  our  leave  one  of  another,  we  took  ship ;  and  they  returned  home  again. 
7.  And  when  we  had  finished  our  course  from  Tyre,  we  came  to  Ptolemais,  and 
saluted  the  brethren,  and  abode  with  them  one  day.  8.  And  the  next  day  we  that 
were  of  Paul's  company  departed,  and  came  unto  Csesarea :  and  we  entered  into 
the  house  of  Philip  the  evangelist,  which  was  one  of  the  seven  ;  and  abode  with 
him.  9.  And  the  same  man  had  four  daughters,  virgins,  which  did  prophesy. 
10.  And  as  we  tarried  there  many  days,  there  came  down  from  Judsea  a  certain 
prophet,  named  Agabus.  11.  And  when  he  was  come  unto  us,  he  took  Paul's 
girdle,  and  bound  his  own  hands  and  feet,  and  said,  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost, 
So  shall  the  .Tews  at  Jerusalem  bind  the  man  that  owneth  this  girdle,  and  shall 
deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles.  12.  And  when  we  heard  these  things, 
both  we,  and  they  of  that  place,  besought  him  not  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 
13.  Then  Paul  answered.  What  mean  ye  to  weep  and  to  break  mine  heart?  for 
I  am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  14.  And  when  he  would  not  be  persuaded,  we  ceased,  saying.  The 
will  of  the  Lord  be  done.  15.  And  after  those  days  we  took  up  our  carriages,  and 
went  up  to  Jerusalem.'— Acts  xxi.  1-15. 

Paul's  heroic  persistency  in  disregarding  the  warnings 
of  *  bonds  and  afflictions '  which  were  pealed  into  his 


216  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

ears  in  every  city,  is  the  main  point  of  interest  in  this 
section.  But  the  vivid  narrative  abounds  with  details 
which  fill  it  with  life  and  colour.  We  may  gather  it  all 
round  three  points — the  voyage,  Tyre,  and  Caesarea. 

I.  The  log  of  the  voyage,  as  given  in  verses  1-3,  shows 
the  leisurely  way  of  navigation  in  those  days  and  in 
that  sea.  Obviously  the  coaster  tied  up  or  anchored 
in  port  at  night.  Running  down  the  coast  from 
Miletus,  they  stayed  overnight,  first  at  the  small  island 
of  Coos,  then  stretched  across  the  next  day  to  Rhodes, 
and  on  the  third  struck  back  to  the  mainland  at 
Patara,  from  which,  according  to  one  reading,  they 
ran  along  the  coast  a  little  further  east  to  Myra,  the 
usual  port  of  departure  for  Syria.  Ramsay  explains 
that  the  prevalent  favourable  wind  for  a  vessel  bound 
for  Syria  blows  steadily  in  early  morning,  and  dies 
down  towards  nightfall,  so  that  there  would  have 
been  no  use  in  keeping  at  sea  after  sundown. 

At  Patara  (or  Myra)  Paul  and  his  party  had  to  tran- 
ship, for  their  vessel  was  probably  of  small  tonnage, 
and  only  fit  to  run  along  the  coast.  In  either  port 
they  would  have  no  difiiculty  in  finding  some  merchant- 
man to  take  them  across  to  Syria.  Accordingly  they 
shifted  into  one  bound  for  Tyre,  and  apparently  ready 
to  sail.  The  second  part  of  their  voyage  took  them 
right  out  to  sea,  and  their  course  lay  to  the  west,  and 
then  to  the  south  of  Cyprus,  which  Luke  mentions  as 
if  to  remind  us  of  Paul's  visit  there  when  he  was  begin- 
ning his  missionary  work.  How  much  had  passed 
since  that  day  at  Paphos  (which  they  might  have 
sighted  from  the  deck) !  He  had  left  Paphos  with 
Barnabas  and  John  Mark — where  were  they?  He  had 
sailed  away  from  Cyprus  to  carry  the  Gospel  among 
Gentiles ;   he  sails  past  it,  accompanied  by  a  group  of 


vs.  1-15]     NEARER  TO  THE  STORM  217 

these  whom  he  had  won  for  Christ.  There  he  had 
begun  his  career ;  now  the  omens  indicated  that 
possibly  its  end  was  near.  Many  a  thought  would  be 
in  his  mind  as  he  looked  out  over  the  blue  waters  and 
saw  the  glittering  roofs  and  groves  of  Paphos. 

Tyre  was  the  first  port  of  call,  and  there  the  cargo 
was  to  be  landed.  The  travellers  had  to  wait  till  that 
was  done,  and  probably  another  one  shipped.  The  seven 
days'  stay  is  best  understood  as  due  to  that  cause ;  for 
we  find  that  Paul  re-embarked  in  the  same  ship,  and 
went  in  her  as  far  as  Ptolemais,  at  all  events,  perhaps 
to  Csesarea. 

We  note  that  no  brethren  are  mentioned  as  having 
been  met  at  any  of  the  ports  of  call,  and  no  evangelistic 
work  as  having  been  done  in  them.  The  party  were 
simple  passengers,  who  had  to  shape  their  movements 
to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  master  of  the  vessel,  and 
were  only  in  port  at  night,  and  off  again  next  morning 
early.  No  doubt  the  leisure  at  sea  was  as  restorative 
to  them  as  it  often  is  to  jaded  workers  now. 

II.  Tyre  was  a  busy  seaport  then,  and  in  its  large 
population  the  few  disciples  would  make  but  little  show. 
They  had  to  be  sought  out  before  they  were  *  found.' 
One  can  feel  how  eagerly  the  travellers  would  search, 
and  how  thankfully  they  would  find  themselves  again 
among  congenial  souls.  Since  Miletus  they  had  had  no 
Christian  communion,  and  the  sailors  in  such  a  ship  as 
theirs  would  not  be  exactly  kindred  spirits.  So  that 
week  in  Tyre  would  be  a  blessed  break  in  the  voyage. 
We  hear  nothing  of  visiting  the  synagogue,  nor  of 
preaching  to  the  non-Christian  population,  nor  of 
instruction  to  the  little  Church. 

The  whole  interest  of  the  stay  at  Tyre  is,  for  Luke, 
centred  on  the  fact  that  here  too  the  same  message 


218  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

which  had  met  Paul  everywhere  was  repeated  to  him. 
It  was  •  through  the  Spirit.'  Then  was  Paul  flying  in 
the  face  of  divine  prohibitions  when  he  held  on  his 
way  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  said  ?  Certainly  not. 
We  have  to  bring  common  sense  to  bear  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  words  in  verse  4,  and  must  suppose 
that  what  came  from  '  the  Spirit '  was  the  prediction 
of  persecutions  waiting  Paul,  and  that  the  exhortation 
to  avoid  these  by  keeping  clear  of  Jerusalem  was  the 
voice  of  human  affection  only.  Such  a  blending  of 
clear  insight  and  of  mistaken  deductions  from  it  is  no 
strange  experience. 

No  word  is  said  as  to  the  effect  of  the  Tyrian 
Christians'  dissuasion.  It  had  none.  Luke  mentions 
it  in  order  to  show  how  continuous  was  the  repetition 
of  the  same  note,  and  his  silence  as  to  the  manner  of 
its  reception  is  eloquent.  The  parting  scene  at  Tyre 
is  like,  and  yet  very  unlike,  that  at  Miletus.  In  both 
the  Christians  accompany  Paul  to  the  beach,  in  both 
they  kneel  down  and  pray.  It  would  scarcely  have 
been  a  Christian  parting  without  that.  In  both  loving 
farewells  are  said,  and  perhaps  waved  when  words 
could  no  longer  be  heard.  But  at  Tyre,  where  there 
were  no  bonds  of  old  comradeship  nor  of  affection  to 
a  spiritual  father,  there  was  none  of  the  yearning, 
clinging  love  that  could  not  bear  to  part,  none  of  the 
hanging  on  Paul's  neck,  none  of  the  deep  sorrow  of 
final  separation.  The  delicate  shades  of  difference  in 
two  scenes  so  similar  tell  of  the  hand  of  an  eye-witness. 
The  touch  that '  all '  the  Tyrian  Christians  went  down 
to  the  beach,  and  took  their  wives  and  children  with 
them,  suggests  that  they  can  have  been  but  a  small 
community,  and  so  confirms  the  hint  given  by  the  use 
of  the  word  '  found '  in  verse  4, 


vs.  1-15]     NEARER  TO  THE  STORM  219 

III.  The  vessel  ran  down  the  coast  to  Ptolemais 
where  one  day's  stop  was  made,  probably  to  land  and 
ship  cargo,  if,  as  is  possible,  the  further  journey  to 
Csesarea  was  by  sea.  But  it  may  have  been  by  land ; 
the  narrative  is  silent  on  that  point.  At  Ptolemais,  as 
at  Tyre,  there  was  a  little  company  of  disciples,  the 
brevity  of  the  stay  with  whom,  contrasted  with  the 
long  halt  in  Csesarea,  rather  favours  the  supposition 
that  the  ship's  convenience  ruled  the  Apostle's  move- 
ments till  he  reached  the  latter  place.  There  he  found 
a  haven  of  rest,  and,  surrounded  by  loving  friends,  no 
wonder  that  the  burdened  Apostle  lingered  there  before 
plunging  into  the  storm  of  which  he  had  had  so 
many  warnings. 

The  eager  haste  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  journey, 
contrasted  with  the  delay  in  Csesarea  at  the  threshold 
of  his  goal,  is  explained  by  supposing  that  at  the 
beginning  Paul's  one  wish  had  been  to  get  to  Jerusalem 
in  time  for  the  Feast,  and  that  at  Csesarea  he  found  that, 
thanks  to  his  earlier  haste  and  his  good  passages,  he 
had  a  margin  to  spare.  He  did  not  wish  to  get  to  the 
Holy  City  much  before  the  Feast. 

Two  things  only  are  told  as  occurring  in  Csesarea — 
the  intercourse  with  Philip  and  the  renewed  warnings 
about  going  to  Jerusalem.  Apparently  Philip  had 
been  in  Csesarea  ever  since  we  last  heard  of  him 
(chap.  viii.).  He  had  brought  his  family  there,  and 
settled  down  in  the  headquarters  of  Roman  govern- 
ment. He  had  been  used  by  Christ  to  carry  the  Gospel 
to  men  outside  the  Covenant,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed 
as  if  he  was  to  be  the  messenger  to  the  Gentiles  ;  but 
that  mission  soon  ended,  and  the  honour  and  toil  fell 
to  another.  But  neither  did  Philip  envy  Paul,  nor  did 
Paul  avoid  Pliih'p,    The  Master  has  the  right  to  settle 


220  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

what  each  slave  has  to  do,  and  whether  He  sets  him 
to  high  or  low  office,  it  matters  not. 

Philip  might  have  been  contemptuous  and  jealous 
of  the  younger  man,  who  had  been  nobody  when  he 
was  chosen  as  one  of  the  Seven,  but  had  so  far  outrun 
him  now.  But  no  paltry  personal  feeling  marred  the 
Christian  intercourse  of  the  two,  and  we  can  imagine 
how  much  each  had  to  tell  the  other,  with  perhaps 
Cornelius  for  a  third  in  company,  during  the  consider- 
ably extended  stay  in  Csesarea.  No  doubt  Luke  too 
made  good  use  of  the  opportunity  of  increasing  his 
knowledge  of  the  first  days,  and  probably  derived  much 
of  the  material  for  the  first  chapters  of  Acts  from 
Philip,  either  then  or  at  his  subsequent  longer  residence 
in  the  same  city. 

We  have  heard  of  the  prophet  Agabus  before  (chap. 
xi.  28).  Why  he  is  introduced  here,  as  if  a  stranger, 
we  cannot  tell,  and  it  is  useless  to  guess,  and  absurd 
to  sniff  suspicion  of  genuineness  in  the  peculiarity. 
His  prophecy  is  more  definite  than  any  that  preceded 
it.  That  is  God's  way.  He  makes  things  clearer  as 
we  go  on,  and  warnings  more  emphatic  as  danger 
approaches.  The  source  of  the  '  afflictions '  was  now 
for  the  first  time  declared,  and  the  shape  which  they 
would  take.  Jews  would  deliver  Paul  to  Gentiles,  as 
they  had  delivered  Paul's  Master. 

But  there  the  curtain  falls.  What  would  the  Gentiles 
do  with  him?  That  remained  unrevealed.  Half  the 
tragedy  was  shown,  and  then  darkness  covered  the 
rest.  That  was  more  trying  to  nerves  and  courage 
than  full  disclosure  to  the  very  end  would  have  been. 
Imagination  had  just  enough  to  work  on,  and  was 
stimulated  to  shape  out  all  sorts  of  horrors.  Similarly 
incomplete  and  testing  to  faith  are  the  glimpses  of  the 


vs.  1-15]     NEARER  TO  THE  STORM  221 

future  which  we  get  in  our  own  lives.  We  see  but  a 
little  way  ahead,  and  then  the  road  takes  a  sharp 
turn,  and  we  fancy  dreadful  shapes  hiding  round  the 
corner. 

Paul's  courage  was  unmoved  both  by  Agabus's  incom- 
plete prophecy  and  by  the  tearful  imploriugs  of  his 
companions  and  of  the  Csesarean  Christians.  His 
pathetic  words  to  them  are  misunderstood  if  we  take 
'  break  my  heart '  in  the  modern  sense  of  that  phrase, 
for  it  really  means  '  to  melt  away  my  resolution,'  and 
shows  that  Paul  felt  that  the  passionate  grief  of  his 
brethren  was  beginning  to  do  what  no  fear  for  him- 
self could  do — shake  even  his  steadfast  purpose.  No 
more  lovely  blending  of  melting  tenderness  and  iron 
determination  has  ever  been  put  into  words  than  that 
cry  of  his,  followed  by  the  great  utterance  which 
proclaimed  his  readiness  to  bear  all  things,  even  death 
itself,  for  '  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  What  kindled 
and  fed  that  noble  flame  of  self-devotion  ?  The  love  of 
Jesus  Christ,  built  on  the  sense  that  He  had  redeemed 
the  soul  of  His  servant,  and  had  thereby  bought  him 
for  His  own. 

If  we  feel  that  we  have  been  *  bought  with  a  price,' 
we  too,  in  our  small  spheres,  shall  be  filled  with  that 
ennobling  passion  of  devoted  love  which  will  not  count 
life  dear  if  He  calls  us  to  give  it  up.  Let  us  learn  from 
Paul  how  to  blend  the  utmost  gentleness  and  tender 
responsiveness  to  all  love  with  fixed  determination  to 
glorify  the  Name.  A  strong  will  and  a  loving  heart 
make  a  marvellously  beautiful  combination,  and  should 
both  abide  in  every  Christian. 


PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST 

'.  .  .  We  entered  into  the  house  of  Philip  the  evangelist,  which  was  one  of  the 
seven ;  and  abode  with  him.'— Acts  xxi.  8. 

The  life  of  this  Philip,  as  recorded,  is  a  very  remarkable 
one.  It  is  divided  into  two  unequal  halves  :  one  full  of 
conspicuous  service,  one  passed  in  absolute  obscurity. 
Like  the  moon  in  its  second  quarter,  part  of  the  disc 
is  shining  silver  and  the  rest  is  invisible.  Let  us  put 
together  the  notices  of  him. 

He  bears  a  name  which  makes  it  probable  that  he 
was  not  a  Palestinian  Jew,  but  one  of  the  many  who, 
of  Jewish  descent,  had  lived  in  GentilB  lands  and  con- 
tracted Gentile  habits  and  associations.  We  first  hear 
of  him  as  one  of  the  Seven  who  were  chosen  by  the 
Church,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Apostles,  in  order  to 
meet  the  grumbling  of  that  section  of  the  Church,  who 
were  called  '  Hellenists,'  about  their  people  being 
neglected  in  the  distribution  of  alms.  He  stands  in 
that  list  next  to  Stephen,  who  was  obviously  the  leader. 
Then  after  Stephen's  persecution,  he  flies  from  Jeru- 
salem, like  the  rest  of  the  Church,  and  comes  down  to 
Samaria  and  preaches  there.  He  did  that  because  cir- 
cumstances drove  him ;  he  had  become  one  of  the  Seven 
because  his  brethren  appointed  him,  but  his  next  step 
was  in  obedience  to  a  specific  command  of  Christ.  He 
went  and  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch, 
and  then  he  was  borne  away  from  the  new  convert, 
and  after  the  Spirit  had  put  him  down  at  Ashdod  he 
had  to  tramp  all  the  way  up  the  Palestinian  coast,  left 
to  the  guidance  of  his  own  wits,  until  he  came  to 
Csesarea.  There  he  remained  for  twenty  years ;  and  we 
do  not  hear  a  word  about  him  in  all  that  time.  But  at 
last  Paul  and  his  companions,  hurrying  to  keep  the 

222 


V.8]  PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST         223 

Feast  at  Jerusalem,  found  that  they  had  a  little  time  to 
spare  when  they  reached  Cassarea,  and  so  they  came  to 
'the  house  of  Philip  the  evangelist,'  whom  we  last 
heard  of  twenty  years  before,  and  spent  '  many  days ' 
with  him.  That  is  the  final  glimpse  that  we  have  of 
Philip. 

Now  let  us  try  to  gather  two  or  three  plain  lessons, 
especially  those  which  depend  on  that  remarkable  con- 
trast between  the  first  and  the  second  periods  of  this 
man's  life.  There  is,  first,  a  brief  space  of  brilliant  ser- 
vice, and  then  there  are  long  years  of  obscure  toil. 

I.  The  brief  space  of  brilliant  service. 

The  Church  was  in  a  state  of  agitation,  and  there 
was  murmuring  going  on  because,  as  I  have  already 
said,  a  section  of  it  thought  that  their  poor  were  un- 
fairly dealt  with  by  the  native-born  Jews  in  the  Church. 
And  so  the  Apostles  said :  '  What  is  the  use  of  your 
squabbling  thus?  Pick  out  any  seven  that  you  like,  of 
the  class  that  considers  itself  aggrieved,  and  we  will 
put  the  distribution  of  these  eleemosynary  grants  into 
their  hands.  That  will  surely  stop  your  mouths.  Do 
you  choose  whom  you  please,  and  we  will  confirm  your 
choice.'  So  the  Church  selected  seven  brethren,  all 
apparently  belonging  to  the  '  Grecians '  or  Greek- 
speaking  Jews,  as  the  Apostles  had  directed  that  they 
should  be,  and  one  of  them,  not  a  Jew  by  birth,  but 
a  *  proselyte  of  Antioch.'  These  men's  partialities 
would  all  be  in  favour  of  the  class  to  which  they 
belonged,  and  to  secure  fair  play  for  which  they  were 
elected  by  it. 

Now  these  seven  are  never  called  'deacons'  in  the 
New  Testament,  though  it  is  supposed  that  they  were 
the  first  holders  of  that  office.  It  is  instructive  to  note 
how  their  office  came  into  existence.    It  was  created  by 


224  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxi. 

the  Apostles,  simply  as  the  handiest  way  of  getting 
over  a  difficulty.  Is  that  the  notion  of  Church  organ- 
isation that  prevails  among  some  of  our  brethren 
who  believe  that  organisation  is  everything,  and 
that  unless  a  Church  has  the  three  orders  of  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons,  it  is  not  worth  calling  a  Church  at 
all  ?  The  plain  fact  is  that  the  Church  at  the  beginning 
had  no  organisation.  What  organisation  it  had  grew 
up  as  circumstances  required.  The  only  two  laws  which 
governed  organisation  were,  first,  '  One  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren ' ;  and  second, 
•  When  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  come  upon  thee,  thou 
shalt  do  as  occasion  shall  serve  thee.'  Thus  these  seven 
were  appointed  to  deal  with  a  temporary  difficulty  and 
to  distribute  alms  when  necessary;  and  their  office 
dropped  when  it  was  no  longer  required,  as  was  pro- 
bably the  case  when,  very  soon  after,  the  Jerusalem 
Church  was  scattered.  Then,  by  degrees,  came  elders  and 
deacons.  People  fancy  that  there  is  but  one  rigid,  un- 
alterable type  of  Church  organisation,  when  the  reality 
is  that  it  is  fluent  and  flexible,  and  that  the  primitive 
Church  never  was  meant  to  be  the  pattern  according 
to  which,  in  detail,  and  specifically,  other  Churches  in 
different  circumstances  should  be  constituted.  There 
are  great  principles  which  no  organisation  must  break, 
but  if  these  be  kept,  the  form  is  a  matter  of  convenience. 
That  is  the  first  lesson  that  I  take  out  of  this  story. 
Although  it  has  not  much  to  do  with  Philip  himself, 
still  it  is  worth  saying  in  these  days  when  a  par- 
ticular organisation  of  the  Church  is  supposed  to  be 
essential  to  Christian  fellowship,  and  we  Nonconform- 
ists, who  have  not  the  '  orders '  that  some  of  our 
brethren  seem  to  think  indispensable,  are  by  a  con- 
siderable school  unchurched,  because  we  are  without 


V.8]         PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST         225 

them.      But  the  primitive  Church  also  was  without 
them. 

Still  further  and  more  important  for  us,  in  these 
brief  years  of  brilliant  service  I  note  the  spontaneous 
impulse  which  sets  a  Christian  man  to  do   Christian 
work.    It  was  his  brethren  that  picked  out  Philip,  and 
said,   'Now  go  and  distribute  alms,'  but  his  brethren 
had  nothing  to  do  with  his  next  step.    He  was  driven 
by   circumstances    out    of    Jerusalem,   and   he   found 
himself  in  Samaria,  and  perhaps  he  remembered  how 
Jesus  Christ  had  said,  on  the  day  when  He  went  up  into 
Heaven,  *  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me,  both  in  Jeru- 
salem and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth.'    But  whether  he  remembered  that  or  not, 
he  was  here  in  Samaria,  amongst  the  ancestral  enemies 
of  his  nation.     Nobody  told  him  to  preach  when  he 
went  to  Samaria.    He  had  no  commission  from  the 
Apostles  to  do  so.     He  did  not  hold  any  office  in  the 
Church,  except  that  which,  according  to  the  Apostles' 
intention  in  establishing  it,  ought  to  have  stopped  his 
mouth  from  preaching.    For  they  said,  when  they  ap- 
pointed these  seven, '  Let  them  serve  tables,  and  we  will 
give  ourselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  word.'    But  Jesus 
Christ  has  a  way  of  upsetting  men's  restrictions  as  to 
the  functions  of  His  servants.    And  so  Philip,  with- 
out a  commission,  and  with  many  prejudices  to  stop 
his  mouth,  was  the  first  to  break  through  the  limita- 
tions which  confined  the  message  of  salvation  to  the 
Jews.    Because  he  found  himself  in  Samaria,  and  they 
needed   Christ  there,  he  did  not  wait  for  Peter  and 
James  and  John  to  lay  their  hands  upon  his  head, 
and  say,  '  Now  you  are  entitled  to  speak  about  Him ' ; 
he  did  not  wait  for  any  appointment,  but  yielded  to  his 
own  heart,  a  heart  that  was  full  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 

VOL.  II.  p 


226  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

must  speak  about  Him ;  and  he  proclaimed  the  Gospel 
in  that  city. 

So  he  has  the  noble  distinction  of  being  the  very  first 
Christian  man  who  put  a  bold  foot  across  the  boundary 
of  Judaism,  and  showed  a  light  to  men  that  were  in 
darkness  beyond.  Remember  he  did  it  as  a  simple 
private  Christian ;  uncalled,  uncommissioned,  unor- 
dained  by  anybody ;  and  he  did  it  because  he  could  not 
help  it,  and  he  never  thought  to  himself,  '  I  am  doing  a 
daring,  new  thing.'  It  seemed  the  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world  that  he  should  preach  in  Samaria.  So  it 
would  be  to  us,  if  we  were  Christians  with  the  depth 
of  faith  and  of  personal  experience  which  this  man 
had. 

There  is  another  lesson  that  I  take  from  these  first 
busy  years  of  Philip's  service.  Christ  provides  wider 
spheres  for  men  who  have  been  faithful  in  narrower 
ones.  It  was  because  he  had  '  won  his  spurs,'  if  I  may 
so  say,  in  Samaria,  and  proved  the  stuff  he  was  made 
of,  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  and  said  to  Philip, 
*Go  down  on  the  road  to  Gaza,  which  is  desert.  Do 
not  ask  now  what  you  are  to  do  when  you  get  there. 
Go ! '  So  with  his  sealed  orders  he  went.  No  doubt  he 
thought  to  himself,  'Strange  that  I  should  be  taken 
from  this  prosperous  work  in  Samaria,  and  sent  to  a 
desert  road,  where  there  is  not  a  single  human  being !' 
But  he  went ;  and  when  he  struck  the  point  of  junction 
of  the  road  from  Samaria  with  that  from  Jerusalem, 
looked  about  to  discover  what  he  had  been  sent  there 
for.  The  only  thing  in  sight  was  one  chariot,  and  he 
said  to  himself,  'Ah,  that  is  it,'  and  he  drew  near  to 
the  chariot,  and  heard  the  occupant  reading  aloud 
Isaiah's  great  prophecy.  The  Ethiopian  chamberlain 
was  probably  not  very  familiar  with  the  Greek  trans- 


V.8]  PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST         227 

lation  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  he  seems  to  have 
been  using  and,  as  poor  readers  often  do,  helped  his 
comprehension  by  speaking  the  words  he  sees  on  the 
page.  Philip  knew  at  once  that  here  was  the  object 
of  his  mission,  and  so  '  joined  himself  to  the  chariot,' 
and  set  himself  to  his  work. 

So  Christ  chooses  His  agents  for  further  work  from 
those  who,  out  of  their  own  spontaneous  love  of  Him, 
have  done  what  lay  at  their  hands.  '  To  him  that  hath 
shall  be  given.'  If  you  are  ambitious  of  a  wider  sphere, 
be  sure  that  you  fill  your  narrow  one.  It  will  widen 
quite  fast  enough  for  your  capacities. 

II.  Now  let  me  say  a  word  about  the  long  years  of 
obscurity. 

Philip  went  down  to  Csesarea,  and,  as  I  said,  he  drops 
out  of  the  story  for  twenty  years.  I  wonder  why  it 
was  that  when  Jesus  Christ  desired  that  Cornelius,  who 
lived  in  Csesarea,  should  hear  the  gospel,  He  did  not 
direct  him  to  Philip,  who  also  was  in  Csesarea,  but  bid 
him  send  all  the  way  to  Joppa  to  bring  Peter  thence  ? 
I  wonder  why  it  was  that  when  Barnabas  at  Antioch 
turned  his  face  northwards  to  seek  for  young  Saul  at 
Tarsus,  he  never  dreamed  of  turning  southwards  to  call 
out  Philip  from  Csesarea?  I  wonder  how  it  came  to 
pass  that  this  man,  who  at  one  time  looked  as  if  he  was 
going  to  be  the  leader  in  the  extension  of  the  Church 
to  the  Gentiles,  and  who,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  the 
first,  not  only  in  Samaria  but  on  the  desert  road,  to  press 
beyond  the  narrow  bounds  of  Judaism,  was  passed  over 
in  the  further  stages  by  Jesus,  and  why  his  brethren 
passed  him  over,  and  left  him  there  all  these  years  in 
Csesarea,  whilst  there  was  so  much  going  on  that  was 
the  continuation  and  development  of  the  very  move- 
ment that  he  had  begun.     We  do  not  know  why,  and  it 


228  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxi. 

is  useless  to  try  to  speculate,  but  we  may  learn  lessons 
from  the  fact. 

Here  is  a  beautiful  instance  of  the  contented  accept- 
ance of  a  lot  very  much  less  conspicuous,  very  much 
less  brilliant,  than  the  early  beginnings  had  seemed  to 
promise.  I  suppose  that  there  are  very  few  of  us  but 
have  had,  back  in  the  far-away  past,  moments  when  we 
seemed  to  have  opening  out  before  us  great  prospects 
of  service  which  have  never  been  realised;  and  the 
remembrance  of  the  brief  moments  of  dawning  splen- 
dour is  very  apt  to  make  the  rest  of  the  life  look  grey 
and  dull,  and  common  things  flat,  and  to  make  us  sour. 
We  look  back  and  we  think,  'Ah,  the  gates  were 
opened  for  me  then,  but  how  they  have  slammed  to 
since !  It  is  hard  for  me  to  go  on  in  this  lowly  condition, 
and  this  eclipsed  state  into  which  I  have  been  brought, 
without  feeling  how  different  it  might  have  been  if 
those  early  days  had  only  continued.'  Well,  for  Philip 
it  was  enough  that  Jesus  Christ  sent  him  to  the  eunuch 
and  did  not  send  him  to  Cornelius.  He  took  the  posi- 
tion that  his  Master  put  him  in  and  worked  away 
therein. 

And  there  is  a  further  lesson  for  us,  who,  for  the 
most  part,  have  to  lead  obscure  lives.  For  there  was 
in  Philip  not  only  a  contented  acceptance  of  an  obscure 
life,  but  there  was  a  diligent  doing  of  obscure  work. 
Did  you  notice  that  one  significant  little  word  in  the 
clause  that  I  have  taken  for  my  text :  *  We  entered  into 
the  house  of  Philip  the  evangelist,  which  was  one  of  the 
seven'?  Luke  does  not  forget  Philip's  former  office, 
but  he  dwells  rather  on  what  his  other  office  was, 
twenty  years  afterwards.  He  was  *  an  evangelist '  now, 
although  the  evangelistic  work  was  being  done  in 
a  very  quiet  corner,  and  nobody  was  paying  much 


V.8]          PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST         229 

attention  to  it.  Time  was  when  he  had  a  great  states- 
man to  listen  to  his  words.  Time  was  when  a  whole  city 
was  moved  by  his  teaching.  Time  was  when  it  looked 
as  if  he  was  going  to  do  the  work  that  Paul  did.  But 
all  these  visions  were  shattered,  and  he  was  left  to  toil 
for  twenty  long  years  in  that  obscure  corner,  and  not  a 
soul  knew  anything  about  his  work  except  the  people 
to  whom  it  was  directed  and  the  four  unmarried  girls 
at  home  whom  his  example  had  helped  to  bring  to 
Jesus  Christ,  and  who  were  '  prophetesses.'  At  the  end 
of  the  twenty  years  he  is  '  Philip  the  evangelist.' 

There  is  patient  perseverance  at  unrecompensed, 
unrecorded,  and  unnoticed  work.  '  Great '  and  '  small ' 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  work  of  Christian  people. 
It  does  not  matter  who  knows  our  work  or  who  does 
not  know  it,  the  thing  is  that  He  knows  it.  Now  the 
most  of  us  have  to  do  absolutely  unnoticed  Christian 
service.  Those  of  us  who  are  in  positions  like  mine  have 
a  little  more  notoriety — and  it  is  no  blessing — and  a 
year  or  two  after  a  man's  voice  ceases  to  sound  from  a 
pulpit  he  is  forgotten.  What  does  it  matter  ?  '  Surely 
I  will  never  forget  any  of  their  works.'  And  in  these 
advertising  days,  when  publicity  seems  to  be  the  great 
good  that  people  in  so  many  cases  seek  after,  and 
no  one  is  contented  to  do  his  little  bit  of  work  unless 
he  gets  reported  in  the  columns  of  the  newspapers,  we 
may  all  take  example  from  the  behaviour  of  Philip, 
and  remember  the  man  who  began  so  brilliantly,  and 
for  twenty  years  was  hidden,  and  was  '  the  evangelist ' 
all  the  time. 

HI.  Now,  there  is  one  last  lesson  that  I  would  draw, 
and  that  is  the  ultimate  recognition  of  the  work  and 
the  joyful  meeting  of  the  workers. 

I  think  it  is  very  beautiful  to  see  that  when  Paul 


230  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxi. 

entered  Philip's  house  he  came  into  a  congenial  atmo- 
sphere ;  and  although  he  had  been  hurrying,  out  of 
breath  as  it  were,  all  the  way  from  Corinth  to  get  to 
Jerusalem  in  time  for  the  Feast,  he  slowed  off  at  once ; 
partly,  no  doubt,  because  he  found  that  he  was  in  time, 
and  partly,  no  doubt,  that  he  felt  the  congeniality  of 
the  society  that  he  met. 

So  there  was  no  envy  in  Philip's  heart  of  the 
younger  brother  that  had  so  outrun  him.  He  was  quite 
content  to  share  the  fate  of  pioneers,  and  rejoiced  in 
the  junior  who  had  entered  into  his  labour.  '  One 
soweth  and  another  reapeth';  he  was  prepared  for 
that,  and  rejoiced  to  hear  about  what  the  Lord  had 
done  by  his  brother,  though  once  he  had  thought  it 
might  have  been  done  by  him.  How  they  would  talk ! 
How  much  there  would  be  to  tell !  How  glad  the  old 
man  would  be  at  the  younger  man's  success ! 

And  there  was  one  sitting  by  who  did  not  say  very 
much,  but  had  his  ears  wide  open,  and  his  name  was 
Luke.  In  Philip's  long,  confidential  conversations  he 
no  doubt  got  some  of  the  materials,  which  have  been 
preserved  for  us  in  this  book,  for  his  account  of  the 
early  days  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem. 

So  Philip,  after  all,  was  not  working  in  so  obscure  a 
corner  as  he  thought.  The  whole  world  knows  about 
him.  He  had  been  working  behind  a  curtain  all  the 
while,  and  he  never  knew  that '  the  beloved  physician,' 
who  was  listening  so  eagerly  to  all  he  had  to  tell  about 
the  early  days,  was  going  to  twitch  down  the  curtain 
and  let  the  whole  world  see  the  work  that  he  thought 
he  was  doing,  all  unknown  and  soon  to  be  forgotten. 

And  that  is  what  will  happen  to  us  all.  The  curtain 
will  be  twitched  down,  and  when  it  is,  it  will  be  good 
for  us  if  we  have  the  same  record  to  show  that  this 


V.8]  AN  OLD  DISCIPLE  231 

man  Lad — namely,  toil  for  the  Master,  indifferent  to 
whether  men  see  or  do  not  see  ;  patient  labour  for  Him, 
coming  out  of  a  heart  purged  of  all  envy  and  jealousy 
of  those  who  have  been  called  to  larger  and  more  con- 
spicuous service. 

May  we  not  take  these  many  days  of  quiet  converse 
in  Philip's  house,  when  the  pioneer  and  the  perfecter 
of  the  work  talked  together,  as  being  a  kind  of  pro- 
phetic sj^mbol  of  the  time  when  all  who  had  a  share  in 
the  one  great  and  then  completed  work  will  have  a 
share  in  its  joy?  No  matter  whether  they  have  dug 
the  foundations  or  laid  the  early  courses  or  set  the 
top  stone  and  the  shining  battlements  that  crown 
the  structure,  they  have  all  their  share  in  the  building 
and  their  portion  in  the  gladness  of  the  completed 
edifice,  '  that  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may 
rejoice  together,' 


AN  OLD  DISCIPLE 

' .  ,  .  One  Mnason  of  Cyprus,  an  old  disciple,  with  whom  we  shoald  lodge.'— 
Acts  xxi.  16. 

There  is  something  that  stimulates  the  imagination 
in  these  mere  shadows  of  men  that  we  meet  in  the 
New  Testament  story.  What  a  strange  fate  that  is 
to  be  made  immortal  by  a  line  in  this  book — immortal 
and  yet  so  unknown !  We  do  not  hear  another  word 
about  this  host  of  Paul's,  but  his  name  will  be  familiar 
to  men's  ears  till  the  world's  end.  This  figure  is  drawn 
in  the  slightest  possible  outline,  with  a  couple  of  hasty 
strokes  of  the  pencil.  But  if  we  take  even  these  few 
bare  words  and  look  at  them,  feeling  that  there  is 
a  man  like  ourselves  sketched  in  them,  I  think  we  can 


232  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

get  a  real  picture  out  of  them,  and  that  even  this  dim 
form  crowded  into  the  background  of  the  Apostolic 
story  may  have  a  word  or  two  to  say  to  us. 

His  name  and  his  birthplace  show  that  he  belonged 
to  the  same  class  as  Paul,  that  is,  he  was  a  Hellenist, 
or  a  Jew  by  descent,  but  born  on  Gentile  soil,  and 
speaking  Greek.  He  came  from  Cyprus,  the  native 
island  of  Barnabas,  who  may  have  been  a  friend  of 
his.  He  was  an  'old  disciple,'  which  does  not  mean 
simply  that  he  was  advanced  in  life,  but  that  he  was 
•a  disciple  from  the  beginning,'  one  of  the  original 
group  of  believers.  If  we  interpret  the  word  strictly, 
we  must  suppose  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  rapidly 
diminishing  nucleus,  who  thirty  years  or  more  ago 
had  seen  Christ  in  the  flesh,  and  been  drawn  to  Him 
by  His  own  words.  Evidently  the  mention  of  the  early 
date  of  his  conversion  suggests  that  the  number  of  his 
contemporaries  was  becoming  few,  and  that  there  were 
a  certain  honour  and  distinction  conceded  by  the  second 
generation  of  the  Church  to  the  survivors  of  the  primi- 
tive band.  Then,  of  course,  as  one  of  the  earliest  be- 
lievers, he  must,  by  this  time,  have  been  advanced  in  life. 
A  Cypriote  by  birth,  he  had  emigrated  to,  and  resided  in 
a  village  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem ;  and  must  have  had 
means  and  heart  to  exercise  a  liberal  hospitality  there. 
Though  a  Hellenist  like  Paul  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  known  the  Apostle  before,  for  the  most  probable 
rendering  of  the  context  is  that  the  disciples  from 
Caesar ea,  who  were  travelling  with  the  Apostle  from 
that  place  to  Jerusalem,  'brought  us  to  Mnason,'  im- 
plying that  this  was  their  first  introduction  to  each 
other.  But  though  probably  unacquainted  with  the 
great  teacher  of  the  Gentiles — whose  ways  were  looked 
on  with  much  doubt  by  many  of  the  Palestinian  Chris- 


V.  16]  AN  OLD  DISCIPLE  233 

tians — the  old  man,  relic  of  the  original  disciples  as 
he  was,  had  full  sympathy  with  Paul,  and  opened  his 
house  and  his  heart  to  receive  him.  His  adhesion  to 
the  Apostle  would  no  doubt  carry  weight  with  *  the 
many  thousands  of  Jews  which  believed,  and  were 
all  zealous  of  the  law,'  and  was  as  honourable  to  him 
as  it  was  helpful  to  Paul. 

Now  if  we  put  all  this  together,  does  not  the  shadowy 
figure  begin  to  become  more  substantial?  and  does  it 
not  preach  to  us  some  lessons  that  we  may  well  take 
to  heart? 

I.  The  first  thing  which  this  old  disciple  says  to  us 
out  of  the  misty  distance  is :  Hold  fast  to  your  early 
faith,  and  to  the  Christ  whom  you  have  known. 

Many  a  year  had  passed  since  the  days  when  perhaps 
the  beauty  of  the  Master's  own  character  and  the  sweet- 
ness of  His  own  words  had  drawn  this  man  to  Him. 
How  much  had  come  and  gone  since  then — Calvary 
and  the  Resurrection,  Olivet  and  the  Pentecost!  His 
own  life  and  mind  had  changed  from  buoyant  youth 
to  sober  old  age.  His  whole  feelings  and  outlook  on 
the  world  were  different.  His  old  friends  had  mostly 
gone.  James  indeed  was  still  there,  and  Peter  and 
John  remained  until  this  present,  but  most  had  fallen 
on  sleep.  A  new  generation  was  rising  round  about 
him,  and  new  thoughts  and  ways  were  at  work.  But 
one  thing  remained  for  him  what  it  had  been  in  the 
old  days,  and  that  was  Christ.  '  One  generation  cometh 
and  another  goeth,  but  the  "  Christ "  abideth  for  ever.' 

•  We  all  are  changed  by  still  degrees ; 
All  but  the  basis  of  the  soul,' 

and  the  *  basis  of  the  soul,'  in  the  truest  sense,  is  that 
one  God-laid  foundation  on  which  whosoever  buildeth 


234  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

shall  never  be  confounded,  nor  ever  need  to  change 
with  changing  time.  Are  we  building  there?  and  do 
we  find  that  life,  as  it  advances,  but  tightens  our  hold 
on  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  our  hope  ? 

There  is  no  fairer  nor  happier  experience  than  that 
of  the  old  man  who  has  around  him  the  old  loves,  the 
old  confidences,  and  some  measure  of  the  old  joys. 
But  who  can  secure  that  blessed  unity  in  his  life  if 
he  depend  on  the  love  and  help  of  even  the  dearest, 
or  on  the  light  of  any  creature  for  his  sunshine? 
There  is  but  one  way  of  making  all  our  days  one, 
because  one  love,  one  hope,  one  joy,  one  aim  binds 
them  all  together,  and  that  is  by  taking  the  abiding 
Christ  for  ours,  and  abiding  in  Him  all  our  days. 
Holding  fast  by  the  early  convictions  does  not  mean 
stiffening  in  them.  There  is  plenty  of  room  for  ad- 
vancement in  Christ.  No  doubt  Mnason,  when  he  was 
first  a  disciple,  knew  but  very  little  of  the  meaning 
and  worth  of  his  Master  and  His  work,  compared  with 
what  he  had  learned  in  all  these  years.  And  our  true 
progress  consists,  not  in  growing  away  from  Jesus 
but  in  growing  up  into  Him,  not  in  passing  through 
and  leaving  behind  our  first  convictions  of  Him  as 
Saviour,  but  in  having  these  verified  by  the  experience 
of  years,  deepened  and  cleared,  unfolded  and  ordered 
into  a  larger,  though  still  incomplete,  whole.  We  may 
make  our  whole  lives  helpful  to  that  advancement 
and  blessed  shall  we  be  if  the  early  faith  is  the  faith 
that  brightens  till  the  end,  and  brightens  the  end. 
How  beautiful  it  is  to  see  a  man,  below  whose  feet 
time  is  crumbling  away,  holding  firmly  by  the  Lord 
whom  he  has  loved  and  served  all  his  days,  and  finding 
that  the  pillar  of  cloud,  which  guided  him  while  he 
lived,  begins  to  glow  in  its  heart  of  fire  as  the  shadows 


V.  16]  AN  OLD  DISCIPLE  235 

fall,  and  is  a  pillar  of  light  to  guide  him  when  he 
comes  to  die !  Dear  friends,  whether  you  be  near  the 
starting  or  near  the  prize  of  your  Christian  course, 
jCast  not  away  your  confidence,  which  hath  great 
recompense  of  reward.'  See  to  it  that  the  '  knowledge 
of  the  Father,'  which  is  the  '  little  children's '  possession, 
passes  through  the  strength  of  youth,  and  the  'victory 
over  the  world  '  into  the  calm  knowledge  of  Him  *  that 
is  from  the  beginning,'  wherein  the  fathers  find  their 
earliest  convictions  deepened  and  perfected.  *  Grow  in 
grace  and  in  the  knowledge '  of  Him,  whom  to  know 
ever  so  imperfectly  is  eternal  life,  whom  to  know  a 
little  better  is  the  true  progress  for  men,  whom  to 
know  more  and  more  fully  is  the  growth  and  gladness 
and  glory  of  the  heavens.  Look  at  this  shadowy  figure 
that  looks  out  on  us  here,  and  listen  to  his  far-off 
voice  '  exhorting  us  all  that  with  purpose  of  heart  we 
should  cleave  unto  the  Lord.' 

II.  But  there  is  another  and,  as  some  might  think, 
opposite  lesson  to  be  gathered  from  this  outline 
sketch,  namely.  The  welcome  which  we  should  be  ready 
to  give  to  new  thoughts  and  ways. 

It  is  evidently  meant  that  we  should  note  Mnason's 
position  in  the  Church  as  significant  in  regard  to  his 
hospitable  reception  of  the  Apostle.  We  can  fancy  how 
the  little  knot  of  '  original  disciples '  would  be  apt  to 
value  themselves  on  their  position,  especially  as  time 
went  on,  and  their  ranks  were  thinned.  They  would  be 
tempted  to  suppose  that  they  must  needs  understand 
the  Master's  meaning  a  great  deal  better  than  those  who 
had  never  known  Christ  after  the  flesh ;  and  no  doubt 
they  would  be  inclined  to  share  in  the  suspicion  with 
which  the  thorough-going  Jewish  party  in  the  Church 
regarded  this  Paul,  who  had  never  seen  the  Lord.    It 


236  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xxi. 

would  have  been  very  natural  for  this  good  old  man  to 
have  said,  •  I  do  not  like  these  new-fangled  ways.  There 
was  nothing  of  this  sort  in  my  younger  days.  Is  it 
not  likely  that  we,  who  were  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Gospel,  should  understand  the  Gospel  and  the  Church's 
work  without  this  new  man  coming  to  set  us  right? 
I  am  too  old  to  go  in  with  these  changes.'  All  the 
more  honourable  is  it  that  he  should  have  been  ready 
with  an  open  house  to  shelter  the  great  champion 
of  the  Gentile  Churches ;  and,  as  we  may  reasonably 
believe,  with  an  open  heart  to  welcome  his  teaching. 
Depend  on  it,  it  was  not  every  '  old  disciple '  that  would 
have  done  as  much. 

Now  does  not  this  flexibility  of  mind  and  openness 
of  nature  to  welcome  new  ways  of  work,  when  united 
with  the  persistent  constancy  in  his  old  creed,  make 
an  admirable  combination?  It  is  one  rare  enough  at 
any  age,  but  especially  in  elderly  men.  We  are  always 
disposed  to  rend  apart  what  ought  never  to  be  separated, 
the  inflexible  adherence  to  a  fixed  centre  of  belief,  and 
the  freest  ranging  around  the  whole  changing  circum- 
ference. The  man  of  strong  convictions  is  apt  to  grip 
every  trifle  of  practice  and  every  unimportant  bit  of 
his  creed  with  the  same  tenacity  with  which  he  holds 
its  vital  heart,  and  to  take  obstinacy  for  firmness, 
and  dogged  self-will  for  faithfulness  to  truth.  The 
man  who  welcomes  new  light,  and  reaches  forward 
to  greet  new  ways,  is  apt  to  delight  in  having  much 
fluid  that  ought  to  be  fixed,  and  to  value  himself  on 
a  'liberality'  which  simply  means  that  he  has  no 
central  truth  and  no  rooted  convictions.  And  as  men 
grow  older  they  stiffen  more  and  more,  and  have  to 
leave  the  new  work  for  new  hands,  and  the  new 
thoughts  for  new  brains.    That  is  all  in  the  order  of 


V.16]  AN  OLD  DISCIPLE  237 

nature,  but  so  much  the  finer  is  it  when  we  do  see 
old  Christian  men  who  join  to  their  firm  grip  of  the 
old  Gospel  the  power  of  welcoming,  and  at  least  bidding 
God-speed  to,  new  thoughts  and  new  workers  and 
new  ways  of  work. 

The  union  of  these  two  characteristics  should  be 
consciously  aimed  at  by  us  all.  Hold  unchanging,  with 
a  grasp  that  nothing  can  relax,  by  Christ  our  life 
and  our  all;  but  with  that  tenacity  of  mind,  try  to 
cultivate  flexibility  too.  Love  the  old,  but  be  ready 
to  welcome  the  new.  Do  not  invest  your  own  or 
other  people's  habits  of  thought  or  forms  of  work 
with  the  same  sanctity  which  belongs  to  the  central 
truths  of  our  salvation;  do  not  let  the  willingness  to 
entertain  new  light  lead  you  to  tolerate  any  changes 
there.  It  is  hard  to  blend  the  two  virtues  together, 
but  they  are  meant  to  be  complements,  not  opposites, 
to  each  other.  The  fluttering  leaves  and  bending 
branches  need  a  firm  stem  and  deep  roots.  The  firm 
stem  looks  noblest  in  its  unmoved  strength  when  it 
is  contrasted  with  a  cloud  of  light  foliage  dancing  in 
the  wind.  Try  to  imitate  the  persistency  and  the 
open  mind  of  that '  old  disciple '  who  was  so  ready  to 
welcome  and  entertain  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentile 
Churches. 

III.  But  there  is  still  another  lesson  which,  I  think, 
this  portrait  may  suggest,  and  that  is,  the  beauty  that 
may  dwell  in  an  obscure  life. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  said  about  this  old  man  but  that 
he  was  a  disciple.  He  had  done  no  great  thing  for  his 
Lord.  No  teacher  or  preacher  was  he.  No  eloquence  or 
genius  was  in  him.  No  great  heroic  deed  or  piece  of 
saintly  endurance  is  to  be  recorded  of  him,  but  only 
this,  that  he  had  loved  and  followed  Christ  all  his  days. 


2o8  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

And  is  not  tliat  record  enough  ?  It  is  his  blessed  fate 
to  live  for  ever  in  the  world's  memory,  with  only  that 
one  word  attached  to  his  name — a  disciple. 

The  world  may  remember  very  little  about  us  a  year 
after  we  are  gone.  No  thought,  no  deed  may  be  con- 
nected with  our  names  but  in  some  narrow  circle  of 
loving  hearts.  There  may  be  no  place  for  us  in  any 
record  written  with  a  man's  pen.  But  what  does  that 
matter,  if  our  names,  dear  friends,  are  written  in  the 
Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  with  this  for  sole  epitaph,  'a 
disciple '  ?  That  single  phrase  is  the  noblest  summary 
of  a  life.  A  thinker?  a  hero?  a  great  man?  a  million- 
aire? No,  a  'disciple.'  That  says  all.  May  it  be  your 
epitaph  and  mine ! 

What  Mnason  could  do  he  did.  It  was  not  his  vocation 
to  go  into  the  ' regions  beyond,'  like  Paul;  to  guide  the 
Church,  like  James;  to  put  his  remembrances  of  his 
Master  in  a  book,  like  Matthew ;  to  die  for  Jesus,  like 
Stephen.  But  he  could  open  his  house  for  Paul  and 
his  company,  and  so  take  his  share  in  their  work. 
•  He  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet 
shall  receive  a  prophet's  reward.'  He  that  with  under- 
standing and  sympathy  welcomes  and  sustains  the 
prophet,  shows  thereby  that  he  stands  on  the  same 
spiritual  level,  and  has  the  makings  of  a  prophet  in 
him,  though  he  want  the  intellectual  force  and  may 
never  open  his  lips  to  speak  the  burden  of  the  Lord. 
Therefore  he  shall  be  one  in  reward  as  he  is  in  spirit. 
The  old  law  in  Israel  is  the  law  for  the  warfare  of 
Christ's  soldiers.  'As  his  part  is  that  goeth  down  to 
the  battle,  so  shall  his  part  be  that  abideth  by  the 
stuff:  they  shall  part  alike.'  The  men  in  the  rear 
who  guard  the  camp  and  keep  the  communications 
open,  may  deserve  honours,  and  crosses,  and  prize- 


V.  16]  AN  OLD  DISCIPLE  239 

money  as  much  as  their  comrades  who  led  the  charge 
that  cut  through  the  enemy's  line  and  scattered  their 
ranks.  It  does  not  matter,  so  far  as  the  real  spiritual 
worth  of  the  act  is  concerned,  what  we  do,  but  only 
why  we  do  it.  All  deeds  are  the  same  which  are  done 
from  the  same  motive  and  with  the  same  devotion; 
and  He  who  judges,  not  by  our  outward  actions  but 
by  the  springs  from  which  they  come,  will  at  last 
bracket  together  as  equals  many  who  were  widely 
separated  here  in  the  form  of  their  service  and  the 
apparent  magnitude  of  their  work. 

'She  hath  done  what  she  could.'  Her  power  deter- 
mined the  measure  and  the  manner  of  her  work.  One 
precious  thing  she  had,  and  only  one,  and  she  broke  her 
one  rich  possession  that  she  might  pour  the  fragrant 
oil  over  His  feet.  Therefore  her  useless  deed  of  utter 
love  and  uncalculating  self-sacrifice  was  crowned 
by  praise  from  His  lips  whose  praise  is  our  highest 
honour,  and  the  world  is  still  'filled  with  the  odour 
of  the  ointment.* 

So  this  old  disciple's  hospitality  is  strangely  immortal, 
and  the  record  of  it  reminds  us  that  the  smallest  service 
done  for  Jesus  is  remembered  and  treasured  by  Him. 
Men  have  spent  their  lives  to  win  a  line  in  the  world's 
chronicles  which  are  written  on  sand,  and  have  broken 
their  hearts  because  they  failed ;  and  this  passing  act 
of  one  obscure  Christian,  in  sheltering  a  little  company 
of  travel-stained  wayfarers,  has  made  his  name  a 
possession  for  ever.  'Seekest  thou  great  things  for 
thyself?  seek  them  not';  but  let  us  fill  our  little 
corners,  doing  our  unnoticed  work  for  love  of  our 
Lord,  careless  about  man's  remembrance  or  praise, 
because  sure  of  Christ's,  whose  praise  is  the  only  fame, 
whose  remembrance  is  the  highest  reward.    'God  is 


240  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxi. 

not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and  labour  of 
love.' 


PAUL  IN  THE  TEMPLE 

'  And  when  the  seven  days  were  almost  ended,  the  Jews  which  were  of  Asia, 
when  they  saw  him  in  the  temple,  stirred  up  all  the  people,  and  laid  hands  on 
him,  28.  Crying  out.  Men  of  Israel,  help :  This  is  the  man,  that  teacheth  all  men 
every  where  against  the  people,  and  the  law,  and  this  place :  and  further  broxight 
Greeks  also  into  the  temple,  and  hath  polluted  this  holy  place.  29.  (For  they  had 
seen  before  with  him  in  the  city  Trophimus  an  Ephesian,  whom  they  supposed 
that  Paul  had  brought  into  the  temple.)  30.  And  all  the  city  was  moved,  and  the 
people  ran  together :  and  they  took  Paxil,  and  drew  him  out  of  the  temple  :  and 
forthwith  the  doors  were  shut.  31.  And  as  they  went  about  to  kill  him,  tidings 
came  unto  the  chief  captain  of  the  band,  that  all  Jerusalem  was  in  an  uproar. 
32.  Who  immediately  took  soldiers  and  centurions,  and  ran  down  unto  them  :  and 
when  they  saw  the  chief  captain  and  the  soldiers,  they  left  beating  of  Paul.  33.  Then 
the  chief  captain  came  near,  and  took  him,  and  commanded  him  to  be  bound  with 
two  chains ;  and  demanded  who  he  was,  and  what  he  had  done.  34.  And  some 
cried  one  thing,  some  another,  among  the  multitude :  and  when  he  could  not  know 
the  certainty  for  the  tumult,  he  commanded  him  to  be  carried  into  the  castle. 
35.  And  when  he  came  upon  the  stairs,  so  it  was,  that  he  was  borne  of  the  soldiers 
for  the  violence  of  the  people.  36.  For  the  multitude  of  the  people  followed  after, 
crying,  Away  with  him.  37.  And  as  Paul  was  to  be  led  into  the  castle,  he  said 
unto  the  chief  captain.  May  I  speak  unto  thee?  Who  said.  Canst  thou  speak 
Greek?  38.  Art  not  thou  that  Egyptian,  which  before  these  days  madest  an  up- 
roar, and  leddestout  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men  that  were  murderers? 
39.  But  Paul  said,  I  am  a  man  which  am  a  Jew  of  Tarsus,  a  city  in  Cilicia,  a 
citizen  of  no  mean  city :  and,  I  beseech  thee,  suffer  me  to  speak  unto  the  people.'— 
Acts  xxi,  27-39. 

The  stronger  a  man's  faith,  the  greater  will  and  should 
be  his  disposition  to  conciliate.  Paul  may  seem  to  have 
stretched  consideration  for  weak  brethren  to  its  utmost, 
when  he  consented  to  the  proposal  of  the  Jerusalem 
elders  to  join  in  performing  the  vow  of  a  Nazarite,  and 
to  appear  in  the  Temple  for  that  purpose.  But  he  was 
quite  consistent  in  so  doing;  for  it  was  not  Jewish 
ceremonial  to  which  he  objected,  but  the  insisting  on  it 
as  necessary.  For  himself,  he  lived  as  a  Jew,  except 
in  his  freedom  of  intercourse  with  Gentiles.  No  doubt 
he  knew  that  the  death-warrant  of  Jewish  ceremonial 
had  been  signed,  but  he  could  leave  it  to  time  to  carry 
out  the  sentence.    The  one  thing  which  he  was  resolved 


vs.  27-39]      PAUL  IN  THE  TEMPLE  241 

should  not  be  was  its  imposition  on  Gentile  Christians. 
Their  road  to  Jesus  was  not  through  Temple  or  syna- 
gogue. As  for  Jewish  Christians,  let  them  keep  to 
the  ritual  if  they  chose.  The  conciliatory  plan  recom- 
mended by  the  elders,  though  perfectly  consistent  with 
Paul's  views  and  successful  with  the  Jewish  Christians, 
roused  non-Christian  Jews  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. 

This  incident  brings  out  very  strikingly  the  part 
played  by  each  of  the  two  factors  in  carrying  out  God's 
purposes  for  Paul.  They  are  unconscious  instruments, 
and  co-operation  is  the  last  thing  dreamed  of  on  either 
side  ;  but  Jew  and  Roman  together  work  out  a  design 
of  which  they  had  not  a  glimpse. 

I.  Note  the  charge  against  Paul.  The  '  Jews  from. 
Asia'  knew  him  by  sight,  as  they  had  seen  him  in 
Ephesus  and  elsewhere ;  and  possibly  some  of  them 
had  been  fellow-passengers  with  him  from  Miletus. 
No  wonder  that  they  construed  his  presence  in  the 
Temple  into  an  insult  to  it.  If  Luther  or  John  Knox 
had  appeared  in  St.  Peter's,  he  would  not  have  been 
thought  to  have  come  as  a  worshipper.  Paul's  teach- 
ing may  very  naturally  have  created  the  impression 
in  hot-tempered  partisans,  who  could  not  draw  dis- 
tinctions, that  he  was  the  enemy  of  Temple  and 
sacrifice. 

It  has  always  been  the  vice  of  religious  controversy 
to  treat  inferences  from  heretical  teaching,  which 
appear  plain  to  the  critics,  as  if  they  were  articles  of 
the  heretic's  belief.  These  Jewish  zealots  practised 
a  very  common  method  when  they  fathered  on  Paul 
all  which  they  supposed  to  be  involved  in  his  position. 
Their  charges  against  him  are  partly  flat  lies,  partly 
conclusions  drawn  from  misapprehension  of  his  position, 

VOL.  II.  Q 


242  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxi. 

partly  exaggeration,  and  partly  hasty  assumptions. 
He  had  never  said  a  word  which  could  be  construed  as 
•against  the  people.'  He  had  indeed  preached  that 
the  law  was  not  for  Gentiles,  and  was  not  the  perfect 
revelation  which  brought  salvation,  and  he  had  pointed 
to  Jesus  as  in  Himself  realising  all  that  the  Temple 
shadowed  ;  but  such  teaching  was  not  '  against '  either, 
but  rather  for  both,  as  setting  both  in  their  true 
relation  to  the  whole  process  of  revelation.  He  had 
not  brought  '  Greeks '  into  the  Temple,  not  even  the 
one  Greek  whom  malice  multiplied  into  many.  When 
passion  is  roused,  exaggerations  and  assumptions  soon 
become  definite  assertions.  The  charges  are  a  complete 
object-lesson  in  the  baser  arts  of  religious  (!)  partisans ; 
and  they  have  been  but  too  faithfully  reproduced  in 
all  ages.  Did  Paul  remember  how  he  had  been  '  con- 
senting' to  the  death  of  Stephen  on  the  very  same 
charges  ?    How  far  he  has  travelled  since  that  day ! 

II.  Note  the  immediately  kindled  flame  of  popular 
bigotry.  The  always  inflammable  population  of 
Jerusalem  was  more  than  usually  excitable  at  the 
times  of  the  Feasts,  when  it  was  largely  increased  by 
zealous  worshippers  from  a  distance.  Noble  teaching 
would  have  left  the  mob  as  stolid  as  it  found  them ; 
but  an  appeal  to  the  narrow  prejudices  which  they 
thought  were  religion  was  a  spark  in  gunpowder,  and 
an  explosion  was  immediate.  It  is  always  easier  to 
rouse  m.en  to  fight  for  their  '  religion '  than  to  live  by 
it.  Jehu  was  proud  of  what  he  calls  his  *  zeal  for  the 
Lord,'  which  was  really  only  ferocity  with  a  mask  on. 
The  yelling  crowd  did  not  stop  to  have  the  charges 
proved.  That  they  were  made  was  enough.  In  Scot- 
land people  used  to  talk  of  'Jeddart  justice,'  which 
consisted  in  hanging    a    man    first,   and    trying   him 


vs.  27-39]      PAUL  IN  THE  TEMPLE  243 

leisurely  afterwards.  It  was  usually  substantially 
just  when  applied  to  moss-troopers,  but  does  not  do 
so  well  when  administered  to  Apostles. 

Notice  the  carefulness  to  save  the  Temple  from  pollu- 
tion, which  is  shown  by  the  furious  crowds  dragging 
Paul  outside  before  they  kill  him.  They  were  not 
afraid  to  commit  murder,  but  they  were  horror-struck 
at  the  thought  of  a  breach  of  ceremonial  etiquette. 
Of  course !  for  when  religion  is  conceived  of  as  mainly 
a  matter  of  outward  observances,  sin  is  reduced  to  a 
breach  of  these.  We  are  all  tempted  to  shift  the  centre 
of  gravity  in  our  religion,  and  to  make  too  much  of 
ritual  etiquette.  Kill  Paul  if  you  will,  but  get  him 
outside  the  sacred  precincts  first.  The  priests  shut 
the  doors  to  make  sure  that  there  should  be  no  pro- 
fanation, and  stopped  inside  the  Temple,  well  pleased 
that  murder  should  go  on  at  its  threshold.  They  had 
better  have  rescued  the  victim.  Time  was  when  the 
altar  was  a  sanctuary  for  the  criminal  who  could  grasp 
its  horns,  but  now  its  ministers  wink  at  bloodshed 
with  secret  approval.  Paul  could  easily  have  been 
killed  in  the  crowd,  and  no  responsibility  for  his  death 
have  clung  to  any  single  hand.  No  doubt  that  was 
the  cowardly  calculation  which  they  made,  and  they 
were  well  on  the  way  to  carry  it  out  when  the  other 
factor  comes  into  operation. 

III.  Note  the  source  of  deliverance.  The  Roman 
garrison  was  posted  in  the  fortress  of  Antonia,  which 
commanded  the  Temple  from  a  higher  level  at  the 
north-west  angle  of  the  enclosure.  Tidings  *  came  up ' 
to  the  officer  in  command,  Claudius  Lysias  by  name 
(Acts  xxiii.  26),  that  all  Jerusalem  was  in  confusion. 
With  disciplined  promptitude  he  turned  out  a  detach- 
ment   and    'ran    down    upon    them.'     The    contrast 


244  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxi. 

between  the  quiet  power  of  the  legionaries  and  the 
noisy  feebleness  of  the  mob  is  striking.  The  best 
qualities  of  Roman  sway  are  seen  in  this  tribune's 
unhesitating  action,  before  which  the  excited  mob 
cowers  in  fright.  They  'left  beating  of  Paul,'  as 
knowing  that  a  heavier  hand  would  fall  on  them  for 
rioting.  With  swift  decision  Lysias  acts  first  and 
talks  afterwards,  securing  the  man  who  was  plainly 
the  centre  of  disturbance,  and  then  having  got  him 
fast  with  two  chains  on  him,  inquiring  who  he  was, 
and  what  he  had  been  doing. 

Then  the  crowd  breaks  loose  again  in  noisy  and 
contradictory  explanations,  all  at  the  top  of  their 
voices,  and  each  drowning  the  other.  Clearly  the 
bulk  of  them  could  not  answer  either  of  Lysias'  ques- 
tions, though  they  could  all  bellow  *  Away  with  him  ! ' 
till  their  throats  were  sore.  It  is  a  perfect  picture  of 
a  mob,  which  is  always  ferocious  and  volubly  explana- 
tory in  proportion  to  its  ignorance.  One  man  kept 
his  head  in  the  hubbub,  and  that  was  Lysias,  who 
determined  to  hold  his  prisoner  till  he  did  know  some- 
thing about  him.  So  he  ordered  him  to  be  taken  up 
into  the  castle ;  and  as  the  crowd  saw  their  prey 
escaping  they  made  one  last  fierce  rush,  and  almost 
swept  away  the  soldiers,  who  had  to  pick  Paul  up  and 
carry  him.  Once  on  the  stairs  leading  to  the  castle 
they  were  clear  of  the  crowd,  which  could  only  send  a 
roar  of  baffled  rage  after  them,  and  to  this  the  stolid 
legionaries  were  as  deaf  as  were  their  own  helmets. 

The  part  here  played  by  the  Roman  authority  is 
that  which  it  performs  throughout  the  Acts.  It  shields 
infant  Christianity  from  Jewish  assailants,  like  the 
wolf  which,  according  to  legend,  suckled  Romulus. 
The  good  and  the  bad  features  of  Roman  rule  were 


vs.  27-39]      PAUL  IN  THE  TEMPLE  245 

both  valuable  for  that  purpose.  Its  contempt  for  ideas, 
and  above  all  for  speculative  differences  in  a  religion 
which  it  regarded  as  a  hurtful  superstition,  its  un- 
sympathetic incapacity  for  understanding  its  subject 
nations,  its  military  discipline,  its  justice,  which  though 
often  tainted  was  yet  better  than  the  partisan  violence 
which  it  coerced,  all  helped  to  make  it  the  defender 
of  the  first  Christians.  Strange  that  Rome  should 
shelter  and  Jerusalem  persecute  ! 

Mark,  too,  how  blindly  men  fulfil  God's  purposes. 
The  two  bitter  antagonists,  Jew  and  Roman,  seem  to 
themselves  to  be  working  in  direct  opposition;  but 
God  is  using  them  both  to  carry  out  His  design.  Paul 
has  to  be  got  to  Rome,  and  these  two  forces  are  com- 
bined by  a  wisdom  beyond  their  ken,  to  carry  him 
thither.  Two  cogged  wheels  turning  in  opposite 
directions  fit  into  each  other,  and  grind  out  a  resultant 
motion,  different  from  either  of  theirs.  These  soldiers 
and  that  mob  were  like  pawns  on  a  chessboard, 
ignorant  of  the  intentions  of  the  hand  which  moves 
them. 

IV.  Note  the  calm  courage  of  Paul.  He  too  had  kept 
his  head,  and  though  bruised  and  hustled,  and  having 
but  a  minute  or  two  beforehand  looked  death  in  the 
face,  he  is  ready  to  seize  the  opportunity  to  speak  a 
word  for  his  Master.  Observe  the  quiet  courtesy  of 
his  address,  and  his  calm  remembrance  of  the  tribune's 
right  to  prevent  his  speaking.  There  is  nothing  more 
striking  in  Paul's  character  than  his  self-command  and 
composure  in  all  circumstances.  This  ship  could  rise 
to  any  wave,  and  ride  in  any  storm.  It  was  not  by 
virtue  of  happy  temperament  but  of  a  fixed  faith 
that  his  heart  and  mind  were  kept  in  perfect  peace. 
It  is  not  easy  to  disturb  a  man  who  counts  not  his  life 


246  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.  xxii. 

dear  if  only  he  may  complete  his  course.  So  these  two 
men  front  each  other,  and  it  is  hard  to  tell  which  has 
the  quieter  pulse  and  the  steadier  hand.  The  same 
sources  of  tranquil  self-control  and  calm  superiority 
to  fortune  which  stood  Paul  in  such  good  stead  are 
open  to  us.  If  God  is  our  rock  and  our  high  tower  we 
shall  not  be  moved. 

The  tribune  had  for  some  unknown  reason  settled  in 
his  mind  that  the  Apostle  was  a  well-known  '  Egyptian,' 
who  had  headed  a  band  of  '  Sicarii '  or  '  dagger-men,' 
of  whose  bloody  doings  Josephus  tells  us.  How  the 
Jews  should  have  been  trying  to  murder  such  a  man 
Lysias  does  not  seem  to  have  considered.  But  when 
he  heard  the  courteous,  respectful  Greek  speech  of  the 
Apostle  he  saw  at  once  that  he  had  got  no  uncultured 
ruffian  to  deal  with,  and  in  answer  to  Paul's  request 
and  explanation  gave  him  leave  to  speak.  That  has 
been  thought  an  improbability.  But  strong  men 
recognise  each  other,  and  the  brave  Roman  was  struck 
with  something  in  the  tone  and  bearing  of  the  brave 
Jew  which  made  him  instinctively  sure  that  no  harm 
would  come  of  the  permission.  There  ought  to  be  that 
in  the  demeanour  of  a  Christian  which  is  as  a  testi- 
monial of  character  for  him,  and  sways  observers  to 
favourable  constructions. 


PAUL  ON   HIS  OWN  CONVERSION 

•  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  I  made  my  journey,  and  was  come  nigh  unto 
Damascus  about  noon,  suddenly  there  shone  from  heaven  a  great  light  round 
about  me.  7.  And  I  fell  unto  the  ground,  and  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me,  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Mo?  8.  And  I  answered.  Who  art  Thou,  Lord?  And 
He  said  unto  me,  I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  persecutest.  9.  And  they 
that  were  with  me  saw  indeed  the  light,  and  were  afraid  ;  but  they  heard  not  the 
voice  of  Him  that  spake  to  me.  10.  And  I  said,  What  shall  I  do.  Lord  ?  And  the 
liOrd  said  unto  me,  Arise,  and  go  into  Damascus;  and  there  it  shall  be  told  thee 
of  all  things  which  are  appointed  for  thee  to  do.    11.  And  when  I  could  not  see  for 


vs.  6-16]         PAUL'S  CONVERSION  247 

the  glory  of  that  light,  being  led  by  the  hand  of  them  that  were  with  me,  I  came 
into  Damascus.  12.  And  one  Ananias,  a  devout  man  according  to  the  law,  having 
a  good  report  of  all  the  Jews  which  dwelt  there,  13.  Came  unto  me,  and  stood, 
and  said  unto  me,  Brother  Saul,  receive  thy  sight.  And  the  same  hour  I  looked 
up  upon  him.  14.  And  he  said.  The  God  of  our  fathers  hath  chosen  thee,  that  thou 
shouldest  know  His  will,  and  see  that  Just  One,  and  shouldest  hear  the  voice  of 
His  mouth.  15.  For  thou  shalt  be  His  witness  unto  all  men  of  what  thou  hasb 
seen  and  heard.  16.  And  now  why  tarriest  thou?  arise,  and  be  baptized,  and 
wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.'— Acts  xxii,  6-16. 

We  follow  Paul's  example  when  we  put  Jesus'  appear- 
ance to  him  from  heaven  in  a  line  with  His  appearances 
to  the  disciples  on  earth.  '  Last  of  all,  He  appeared  to 
me  also.'  But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  appearances 
are  all  of  the  same  kind,  or  that  Paul  thought  that 
they  were.  They  were  all  equally  real,  equally  '  objec- 
tive,' equally  valid  proofs  of  Jesus'  risen  life.  On  two 
critical  occasions  Paul  told  the  story  of  Jesus'  appear- 
ance as  his  best  'Apologia.'  'I  saw  and  heard  Him, 
and  that  revolutionised  my  life,  and  made  me  what  I 
am.'  The  two  accounts  are  varied,  as  the  hearers  were, 
but  the  differences  are  easily  reconciled,  and  the  broad 
facts  are  the  same  in  both  versions,  and  in  Luke's 
rendering  in  chapter  ix. 

A  favourite  theory  in  some  quarters  is  that  Paul's 
conversion  was  not  sudden,  but  that  misgivings  had 
been  working  in  him  ever  since  Stephen's  death. 
Surely  that  view  is  clean  against  facts.  Persecuting 
its  adherents  to  the  death  is  a  strange  result  of  dawn- 
ing belief  in  '  this  way.'  Paul  may  be  supposed  to  have 
known  his  state  of  mind  as  well  as  a  critic  nineteen 
centuries  off  does,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  set 
out  from  Jerusalem  a  bitter  hater  of  the  convicted 
impostor  Jesus,  and  stumbled  into  Damascus  a  con- 
vinced disciple  because  he  had  seen  and  heard  Him. 
That  is  his  account  of  the  matter,  which  would  not 
have  been  meddled  with  if  the  meddlers  had  not  taken 
offence  at  'the  supernatural  element.'     We  note  the 


248         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES     [ch.xxii. 

emphasis  which  Paul  puts  on  the  suddenness  of  the 
appearance,  implying  that  the  light  burst  all  in  a 
moment.  A  little  bit  of  personal  reminiscence  comes 
up  in  his  specifying  the  time  as  '  about  noon,'  the 
brightest  hour.  He  remembers  how  the  light  outblazed 
even  the  blinding  brilliance  of  a  Syrian  noontide.  He 
insists  too  on  the  fact  that  his  senses  were  addressed, 
both  eye  and  ear.  He  saw  the  glory  of  that  light,  and 
heard  the  voice.  He  does  not  say  here  that  he  saw 
Jesus,  but  that  he  did  so  is  clear  from  Ananias'  words, 
*to  see  the  Righteous  One'  (ver.  14),  and  from  1  Cor- 
inthians XV.  8.  Further,  he  makes  it  very  emphatic 
that  the  vision  was  certified  as  no  morbid  fancy  of  his 
own,  but  yet  was  marked  as  meant  for  him  only,  by 
the  double  fact  that  his  companions  did  share  in  it, 
but  only  in  part.  They  did  see  the  light,  but  not  *  the 
Righteous  One ' ;  they  did  hear  the  sound  of  the  voice, 
but  not  so  as  to  know  what  it  said.  The  difference 
between  merely  hearing  a  noise  and  discerning  the 
sense  of  the  words  is  probably  marked  by  the  con- 
struction in  the  Greek,  and  is  certainly  to  be  under- 
stood. 

The  blaze  struck  all  the  company  to  the  ground 
(Acts  xxvi.  14).  Prone  on  the  earth,  and  probably  with 
closed  eyes,  their  leader  heard  his  own  name  twice 
sounded,  with  appeal,  authority,  and  love  in  the  tones. 
The  startling  question  which  followed  not  only  pierced 
conscience,  and  called  for  a  reasonable  vindication  of 
his  action,  but  flashed  a  new  light  on  it  as  being  per- 
secution which  struck  at  this  unknown  heavenly 
speaker.  So  the  first  thought  in  Saul's  mind  is  not 
about  himself  or  his  doings  but  about  the  identity  of 
that  Speaker.  Awe,  if  not  actual  worship,  is  expressed 
in  addressing  Him  as  Lord.     Wonder,  with  perhaps 


vs.  6-16]         PAUL'S  CONVERSION  249 

some  foreboding  of  what  the  answer  would  be,  is 
audible  in  the  question,  '  Who  art  Thou  ? '  Who  can 
imagine  the  shock  of  the  answer  to  Saul's  mind  ?  Then 
the  man  whom  he  had  thought  of  as  a  vile  apostate, 
justly  crucified  and  not  risen  as  his  dupes  dreamed, 
lived  in  heaven,  knew  him,  Saul,  and  all  that  he  had 
been  doing,  was  '  apparelled  in  celestial  light,'  and  yet 
in  heavenly  glory  was  so  closely  identified  with  these 
poor  people  whom  he  had  been  hunting  to  death  that 
to  strike  them  was  to  hurt  Him!  A  bombshell  had 
burst,  shattering  the  foundation  of  his  fortifications. 
A  deluge  had  swept  away  the  ground  on  which  he  had 
stood.  His  whole  life  was  revolutionised.  Its  most 
solid  elements  were  dissolved  into  vapour,  and  what  he 
had  thought  misty  nonsense  was  now  the  solid  thing. 
To  find  a  '  why '  for  his  persecuting  was  impossible, 
unless  he  had  said  (what  in  effect  he  did  say),  'I  did 
it  ignorantly.'  When  a  man  has  a  glimpse  of  Jesus 
exalted  to  heaven,  and  is  summoned  by  Him  to  give  a 
reason  for  his  life  of  alienation,  that  life  looks  very 
different  from  what  it  did,  when  seen  by  dimmer  light. 
Clothes  are  passable  by  candle-light  that  look  very 
shabby  in  sunshine.  When  Jesus  comes  to  us.  His  first 
work  is  to  set  us  to  judge  our  past,  and  no  man  can 
muster  up  respectable  answers  to  His  question,  '  Why  ? ' 
for  all  sin  is  unreasonable,  and  nothing  but  obedience 
to  Him  can  vindicate  itself  in  His  sight. 

Saul  threw  down  his  arms  at  once.  His  characteristic 
impetuosity  and  eagerness  to  carry  out  his  convictions 
impelled  him  to  a  surrender  as  complete  as  his  opposi- 
tion. The  test  of  true  belief  in  the  ascended  Jesus  is  to 
submit  the  will  to  Him,  to  be  chiefly  desirous  of  knowing 
His  will,  and  ready  to  do  it.  *  Who  art  Thou,  Lord  ?  * 
should  be  followed  by  *  What  shall  I  do,  Lord  ? ' 


250  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.xxii. 

Blind  Saul,  led  by  the  hand  into  the  city  which  he 
had  expected  to  enter  so  differently,  saw  better  than 
ever  before.  'The  glory  of  that  light'  blinds  us  to 
things  seen,  but  makes  us  able  to  see  afar  off  the  only 
realities,  the  things  unseen.  Speaking  to  Jews,  as 
here,  Paul  described  Ananias  as  a  devout  adherent  of 
the  law,  in  order  to  conciliate  them  and  to  suggest  his 
great  principle  that  a  Christian  was  not  an  apostate 
but  a  complete  Jew.  To  Agrippa  he  drops  all  refer- 
ence to  Ananias  as  irrelevant,  and  throws  together 
the  words  on  the  road  and  the  commission  received 
through  Ananias  as  equally  Christ's  voice.  Here  he 
lays  stress  on  his  agency  in  restoring  sight,  and  on  his 
message  as  including  two  points — that  it  was  '  the  God 
of  our  fathers '  who  had  '  appointed '  the  vision,  and 
that  the  purpose  of  the  vision  was  to  make  Saul  a 
witness  to  all  men.  The  bearing  of  this  on  the  con- 
ciliatory aim  of  the  discourse  is  plain.  We  note  also 
the  precedence  given  in  the  statement  of  the  particulars 
of  the  vision  to  '  knowing  his  will ' — that  was  the  end 
for  which  the  light  and  the  voice  were  given.  Observe 
too  how  the  twofold  evidence  of  sense  is  signalised, 
both  in  the  reference  to  seeing  the  Righteous  One  and 
to  hearing  His  voice  and  in  the  commission  to  witness 
what  Saul  had  seen  and  heard.  The  personal  know- 
ledge of  Jesus,  however  attained,  constitutes  the  quali- 
fication and  the  obligation  to  be  His  witness.  And  the 
convincing  testimony  is  when  we  can  say,  as  we  all  can 
say  if  we  are  Christ's,  *  That  which  we  have  heard,  that 
which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  .  .  .  declare 
we  unto  you.* 


ROME  PROTECTS  PAUL 

And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  I  was  come  again  to  Jerusalem,  even  while  1 
prayed  in  the  Temple,  I  was  in  a  trance  ;  18.  And  saw  Him  saying  unto  me,  Make 
haste,  and  get  thee  quickly  out  of  Jerusalem  :  for  they  will  not  receive  thy  testi. 
mony  concerning  Me.  19.  And  I  said;  Lord,  they  know  that  I  imprisoned  and  beat 
in  every  synagogue  them  that  believed  on  Thee  :  20.  And  when  the  blood  of  Tliy 
martyr  Stephen  was  shed,  I  also  was  standing  by,  and  consenting  unto  his  death, 
and  kept  the  raiment  of  them  that  slew  him.  21.  And  He  said  unto  me.  Depart: 
for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles.  22.  And  they  gave  him  audience 
unto  this  word,  and  then  lifted  up  their  voices,  and  said.  Away  with  such  a  fellow 
from  the  earth  :  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live.  23.  And  as  they  cried  out,  and 
cast  off  their  clothes,  and  threw  dust  into  the  air,  24.  The  chief  captain  com- 
manded him  to  be  brought  into  the  castle,  and  bade  that  he  should  be  examined 
by  scourging;  that  he  might  know  wherefore  they  cried  so  against  him.  25.  And 
as  they  bound  him  with  thongs,  Paul  said  unto  the  centurion  that  stood  by,  Is  it 
lawful  for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Roman,  and  uncondemned?  26.  When 
the  centurion  heard  that,  he  went  and  told  the  chief  captain,  saying,  Take  heed 
what  thou  doest :  for  this  man  is  a  Roman.  27.  Then  the  chief  captain  came,  and 
said.  Tell  me,  art  thou  a  Roman  ?  He  said,  Yea.  28.  And  the  chief  captain  answered. 
With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  freedom.  And  Paul  said.  But  I  was  free  born. 
29.  Then  straightway  they  departed  from  him  which  should  have  examined  him : 
and  the  chief  captain  also  was  afraid,  after  he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman,  and 
because  he  had  bound  him.  30.  On  the  morrow,  because  he  would  have  known  the 
certainty  wherefore  he  was  accused  of  the  Jews,  he  loosed  him  from  his  bands, 
and  commanded  the  chief  priests  and  all  their  council  to  appear,  and  brought  Paul 
down,  and  set  him  before  them.'— Acts  xxii.  17-30. 

The  threatened  storm  soon  burst  on  Paul  in  Jerusalem. 
On  the  third  day  after  his  arrival  he  began  the  cere- 
monial recommended  by  the  elders  to  prove  his  adher- 
ence to  the  law.  Before  the  seven  days  during  which 
it  lasted  were  over  the  riot  broke  out,  and  he  was 
saved  from  death  only  by  the  military  tribune  hurrying 
down  to  the  Temple  and  dragging  him  from  the  mob. 

The  tribune's  only  care  was  to  stamp  out  a  riot,  and 
whether  the  victim  was  '  that  Egyptian  '  or  not,  to  pre- 
vent his  being  murdered.  He  knew  nothing,  and  cared 
as  little,  about  the  grounds  of  the  tumult,  but  he  was 
not  going  to  let  a  crowd  of  turbulent  Jews  take  the 
law  into  their  own  hands,  and  flout  the  majesty  of 
Roman  justice.  So  he  lets  the  nearly  murdered  man  say 
his  say  and  keeps  the  mob  off  him.  It  was  a  strange 
scene — below,  the  howling  zealots;  above,  on  the  stairs, 

S51 


252  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES    [ch.  xxii. 

the  Christian  apologist,  guarded  from  his  countrymen 
by  a  detachment  of  legionaries ;  and  the  assembly  pre- 
sided over  by  a  Roman  tribune. 

It  is  very  characteristic  of  Paul  that  he  thought  that 
his  own  conversion  was  the  best  argument  that  he  could 
use  with  his  fellow-Israelites.  So  he  tells  his  story, 
and  this  section  strikes  into  his  speech  at  the  point 
where  he  is  coming  to  very  thin  ice  indeed,  and  is  about 
to  vindicate  his  work  among  the  Gentiles  by  declaring 
that  it  was  done  in  obedience  to  a  command  from 
heaven.  We  need  not  discuss  the  date  of  the  trance, 
whether  it  was  in  his  first  visit  to  Jerusalem  after  his 
conversion  or,  as  Ramsay  strongly  argues,  is  to  be  put 
at  the  visit  mentioned  in  Acts  xi.  30  and  xii.  25. 

"We  note  the  delicate,  conciliatory  skill  with  which 
he  brings  out  that  his  conversion  had  not  made  him  less 
a  devout  worshipper  in  the  Temple,  by  specifying  it  as 
the  scene  of  the  trance,  and  prayer  as  his  occupation 
then.  The  mention  of  the  Temple  also  invested  the 
vision  with  sanctity. 

Very  noticeable  too  is  the  avoidance  of  the  name  of 
Jesus,  which  would  have  stirred  passion  in  the  crowd. 
We  may  also  observe  that  the  first  words  of  our  Lord, 
as  given  by  Paul,  did  not  tell  him  whither  he  was  to 
go,  but  simply  bade  him  leave  Jerusalem.  The  full 
announcement  of  the  mission  to  the  Gentiles  was  de- 
layed both  by  Jesus  to  Paul  and  by  Paul  to  his  brethren. 
He  was  to  'get  quickly  out  of  Jerusalem';  that  was 
tragic  enough.  He  was  to  give  up  working  for  his  own 
people,  whom  he  loved  so  well.  And  the  reason  was 
their  rooted  incredulity  and  their  hatred  of  him.  Other 
preachers  might  do  something  with  them,  but  Paul 
could  not.     •  They  will  not  receive  testimony  of  thee' 

But  the  Apostle's  heart  clung  to  his  nation,  and  not 


vs.  17-30]       ROME  PROTECTS  PAUL  253 

even  his  Lord's  command  was  accepted  without  re- 
monstrance. His  patriotism  led  him  to  the  verge  of 
disobedience,  and  encouraged  him  to  put  in  his  *  But, 
Lord,'  with  boldness  that  was  all  but  presumption. 
He  ventures  to  suggest  a  reason  why  the  Jews  would, 
as  he  thinks,  receive  his  testimony.  They  knew  what 
he  had  been,  and  they  must  bethink  themselves  that 
there  must  be  something  real  and  mighty  in  the  power 
which  had  turned  his  whole  way  of  thinking  and  living 
right  round,  and  made  him  love  all  that  he  had  hated, 
and  count  all  that  he  had  prized  *  but  dung.'  The  remon- 
strance is  like  Moses',  like  Jeremiah's,  like  that  of  many 
a  Christian  set  to  work  that  goes  against  the  grain, 
and  called  to  relinquish  what  he  would  fain  do,  and  do 
what  he  would  rather  leave  undone. 

But  Jesus  does  not  take  His  servants'  remonstrances 
amiss,  if  only  they  will  make  them  frankly  to  Him,  and 
not  keep  muttering  them  under  their  breath  to  them- 
selves. Let  us  say  all  that  is  in  our  hearts.  He  will 
listen,  and  clear  away  hesitations,  and  show  us  our 
path,  and  make  us  willing  to  walk  in  it.  Jesus  did  not 
discuss  the  matter  with  Paul,  but  reiterated  the  com- 
mand, and  made  it  more  pointed  and  clear ;  and  then 
Paul  stopped  objecting  and  yielded  his  will,  as  we 
should  do.  'When  he  would  not  be  persuaded,  we 
ceased,  saying.  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.'  The 
Apostle  had  kept  from  the  obnoxious  word  as  long  as 
he  could,  but  it  had  to  come,  and  he  tells  the  enraged 
listeners  at  last,  without  circumlocution,  that  he  is  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  that  Jesus  has  made  him  so 
against  his  will,  and  that  therefore  he  must  do  the 
work  appointed  him,  though  his  heart-strings  crack 
with  seeming  to  be  cold  to  Israel. 

The  burst  of  fury,  expressed  in  gestures  which  any- 


254  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xxii. 

body  who  has  ever  seen  two  Easterns  quarrelling  can 
understand,  looks  fitter  for  a  madhouse  than  an  audi- 
ence of  men  in  their  senses.  They  yelled  and  tore  their 
garments  (and  their  beards,  no  doubt),  and  clutched 
handfuls  of  dust  and  tossed  it  in  the  air,  like  Shimei 
cursing  David.  What  a  picture  of  frenzied  hate !  And 
what  was  it  all  for?  Because  Gentiles  were  to  be 
allowed  to  share  in  Israel's  privileges.  And  what  were 
the  privileges  which  they  thus  jealously  monopolised? 
The  favour  and  protection  of  the  God  who,  as  their  own 
prophets  had  taught  them,  was  the  God  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  revealed  Him  to  Israel  that  Israel  might 
reveal  Him  to  the  world. 

The  less  they  entered  into  the  true  possession  of  their 
heritage,  the  more  savagely  they  resented  sharing  it 
with  the  nations.  The  more  their  prerogative  became 
a  mere  outward  thing,  the  more  they  snarled  at  any 
one  who  proposed  to  participate  in  it.  To  seek  to  keep 
religious  blessings  to  one's  self  is  a  conclusive  proof 
that  they  are  not  really  possessed.  If  we  have  them 
we  shall  long  to  impart  them.  Formal  religionists 
always  dislike  missionary  enterprise. 

The  tribune  no  doubt  had  been  standing  silently 
watching,  in  his  strong,  contemptuous  Roman  way, 
the  paroxysm  of  rage  sweeping  over  his  troublesome 
charge.  Of  course  he  did  not  understand  a  word  that 
the  culprit  had  been  saying,  and  could  not  make  out 
what  had  produced  the  outburst.  He  felt  that  there 
was  something  here  that  he  had  not  fathomed,  and 
that  he  must  get  to  the  bottom  of.  It  was  useless  to 
lay  hold  of  any  of  these  shrieking  maniacs  and  try  to 
get  a  reasonable  word  out  of  them.  So  he  determined 
to  see  what  he  could  make  of  the  orator,  who  had 
already  astonished  him  by  traces  of  superior  education, 


vs.  17-30]      ROME  PROTECTS  PAUL  255 

and  was  evidently  no  mere  vulgar  firebrand  or  sedition- 
monger.  He  might  have  tried  gentler  means  of  extract- 
ing the  truth  than  scourging,  but  that  process  of 
'  examination,'  as  it  is  flatteringly  called,  was  common, 
and  has  not  been  antiquated  for  so  many  centuries 
that  we  need  wonder  at  this  Roman  officer  using  it. 

Paul  submitted,  and  was  already  tied  up  to  some 
whipping-post,  in  an  attitude  which  would  expose  his 
back  to  the  lash,  when  he  quietly  dropped,  to  the  in- 
ferior officer  detailed  to  superintend  the  flogging,  the 
question  which  fell  like  a  bombshell.  Possibly  the 
Apostle  had  not  known  what  the  soldiers  were  ordered 
to  do  with  him  till  he  was  tied  up.  We  cannot  tell  why 
he  did  not  plead  his  citizenship  sooner.  But  we  may 
remember  that  at  Philippi  he  did  not  plead  it  at  all  till 
after  the  scourging.  Why  he  delayed  so  long  in  the 
present  instance,  and  why  he  at  last  spoke  the  magic 
words,  *  I  am  a  Roman  citizen,'  we  cannot  say.  But 
we  may  gather  the  two  lessons  that  Christ's  servants 
are  often  wise  in  submitting  silently  to  wrongs,  and 
that  they  are  within  their  rights  in  availing  themselves 
of  legal  defences  against  illegal  treatment.  Whether 
silence  or  protest  is  the  more  expedient  must  be 
determined  in  each  case  by  conscience,  guided  by  the 
sought-for  guidance  of  the  enlightening  Spirit.  The 
determining  consideration  should  be,  Which  course 
will  best  glorify  my  Master  ? 

The  information  brought  the  tribune  in  haste  to  the 
place  where  the  Apostle  was  still  tied  up.  The  tables 
were  turned  indeed.  His  brief  answer,  'Yea,'  was 
accepted  at  once,  for  to  claim  the  sacred  name  of 
Roman  falsely  would  have  been  too  dangerous,  and  no 
doubt  Paul's  bearing  impressed  the  tribune  with  a  con- 
viction of  his  truthfulness.     A  hint  of  contempt  and 


256  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES   [ch.xxii. 

doubt  lies  in  his  remark  that  he  had  paid  dearly  for  the 
franchise,  which  remark  implies,  '  Where  did  a  poor 
man  like  you  get  the  money  then?'  A  shameful  trade 
in  selling  citizens'  rights  was  carried  on  in  the  degraded 
days  of  the  Empire  by  underlings  at  court,  and  no  doubt 
the  tribune  had  procured  his  citizenship  in  that  way. 
Paul's  answer  explains  that  he  was  born  free,  and  so 
was  above  his  questioner. 

That  discovery  put  an  end  to  all  thought  of  scourg- 
ing. Paul  was  at  once  liberated,  and  the  tribune,  terri- 
fied that  he  might  be  reported,  seeks  to  repair  his  error 
and  changes  his  tactics,  retaining  Paul  for  safety  in  the 
castle,  and  summoning  the  Sanhedrim,  to  try  to  find  out 
more  of  this  strange  affair  through  them.  The  great 
council  of  the  nation  had  sunk  low  indeed  when  it  had 
to  obey  the  call  of  a  Roman  soldier. 

Thus  once  more,  as  so  continually  in  the  Acts,  Rome 
is  friendly  to  the  Christian  teachers  and  saves  them 
from  Jewish  fury.  To  point  out  that  early  protection 
and  benevolent  sufferance  is  one  purpose  of  the  whole 
book.  The  days  of  Roman  persecution  had  not  yet 
come.  The  Empire  was  favourable  to  Christianity,  not 
only  because  its  officials  were  too  proud  to  take  interest 
in  petty  squabbles  between  two  sects  of  Jews  about 
their  absurd  superstitions,  but  reasons  of  political  wis- 
dom combined  with  supercilious  indifference  to  bring 
about  this  attitude. 

The  strong  hand  of  Rome,  too,  if  it  crushed  national 
independence,  also  suppressed  violence,  kept  men  from 
flying  at  each  other's  throats,  spread  peace  over  wide 
lands,  and  made  the  journeyings  of  Paul  and  the  plant- 
ing of  the  early  Christian  Churches  possible.  It  was 
a  God-appointed,  though  an  imperfect,  and  in  some 
aspects,  mischievous  unity,  and  prepared  the  way  for 


vs.  17-30]       CHRIST'S  WITNESSES  m 

that  higher  form  of  unity  realised  in  the  Church  which 
finally  shattered  the  coarser  Empire  which  had  at  first 
sheltered  it.  The  Caesars  were  doing  God's  work  when 
they  were  following  their  own  lust  of  empire.  They 
were  yoked  to  Christ's  chariot,  though  unwitting  and 
unwilling.  To  them,  as  truly  as  to  Cyrus,  might  the 
divine  voice  have  said, '  I  girded  thee,  though  thou  hast 
not  known  Me.' 


CHRIST'S  WITNESSES 

'  And  the  night  following  the  Lord  stood  by  him,  and  said,  Be  of  good  cheer, 
Paul :  for  as  thou  hast  testified  of  Me  in  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  bear  witness  also 
at  Rome.'— Acts  xxiii.  11. 

It  had  long  been  Paul's  ambition  to  *  preach  the  Gospel 
to  you  that  are  at  Rome  also.'  His  settled  policy,  as 
shown  by  this  Book  of  the  Acts,  was  to  fly  at  the  head, 
to  attack  the  great  centres  of  population.  We  trace 
him  from  Antioch  to  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Athens, 
Corinth,  Ephesus ;  and  of  course  Rome  was  the  goal, 
where  a  blow  struck  at  the  heart  might  reverberate 
through  the  empire.  So  he  had  planned  for  it,  and 
prayed  about  it,  and  thought  about  it,  and  spoken 
about  it.  But  his  wish  was  accomplished,  as  our 
prayers  and  purposes  so  often  are,  in  a  manner  very 
strange  to  him.  A  popular  riot  in  Jerusalem,  a  half- 
friendly  arrest  by  the  contemptuous  impartiality  of  a 
Roman  officer,  a  final  rejection  by  the  Sanhedrim,  a 
prison  in  Cfesarea,  an  appeal  to  Csesar,  a  weary 
voyage,  a  shipwreck :  this  was  the  chain  of  circum- 
stances which  fulfilled  his  desire,  and  brought  him  to 
the  imperial  city. 

My  text  comes  at  the  crisis  of  his  fate.    He  has  just 
been  rejected  by  his  people,  and  for  the  moment  is  in 

VOL.  TI.  R 


258  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiii. 

safety  in  the  castle  under  the  charge  of  the  Roman 
garrison.  One  can  fancy  how,  as  he  lay  there  in  the 
barrack  that  night,  he  felt  that  he  had  come  to  a 
turning-point;  and  the  thoughts  were  busy  in  his 
mind,  'Is  this  for  life  or  for  death?  Am  I  to  do  any 
more  work  for  Christ,  or  am  I  silenced  for  ever?' 
— 'And  the  Lord  stood  by  him  and  said.  Be  of  good 
cheer,  Paul ! '  The  divine  message  assured  him  that  he 
should  live;  it  testified  of  Christ's  approbation  of  his 
past,  and  promised  him  that,  in  recompense  for  that 
past,  he  should  have  wider  work  to  do.  So  he  passed 
to  the  unknown  future  quietly ;  and  went  on  his  way 
with  the  Master  by  his  side. 

Now,  dear  friends,  it  seems  to  me  that  in  these  great 
words  there  lie  lessons  applying  to  all  Christian  people 
as  truly,  though  in  different  fashion,  as  they  did  to  the 
Apostle,  and  having  an  especial  bearing  on  that  great 
enterprise  of  Christian  missions,  with  which  I  would 
connect  them  in  this  sermon.  I  desire,  then,  to  draw 
out  the  lessons  which  seem  to  me  to  lie  under  the 
surface  of  this  great  promise. 

I.  To  live  ought  to  be,  for  a  Christian,  to  witness. 

The  promise  in  form  is  a  promise  of  continued 
testimony-bearing;  in  its  substance,  one  might  say,  it 
is  a  promise  of  continued  life.  Paul  is  cheered,  not  by 
being  told  that  the  wrath  of  the  enemy  will  launch 
itself  at  his  head  in  vain,  and  that  he  will  bear 
a  charmed  life  through  it  all,  but  by  being  told 
that  tliere  is  work  for  him  to  do  yet.  That  is  the 
shape  in  which  the  promise  of  life  is  held  out  to 
him.  So  it  always  ought  to  be;  a  Christian  man's 
life  ought  to  be  one  continuous  witnessing  for  that 
Lord  Christ  who  stood  by  the  Apostle  in  the  castle  at 
Jerusalem. 


v.ll]  CHRIST'S  WITNESSES  259 

Let  me  just  urge  this  upon  you  for  a  few  moments. 
It  seems  to  me  that  to  raise  up  witnesses  for  Himself 
is,  in  one  aspect,  the  very  purpose  of  all  Christ's  work. 
You  and  I,  dear  brethren,  if  we  have  any  living  hold  of 
that  Lord,  have  received  Him  into  our  hearts,  not  only 
in  order  that  for  ourselves  we  may  rejoice  in  Him,  but 
in  order  that,  for  ourselves  rejoicing  in  Him,  we  may 
•  show  forth  the  virtues  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  out 
of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light.'  There  is  no 
creature  so  great  as  that  he  is  not  regarded  as  a  means 
to  a  further  end ;  and  there  is  no  creature  so  small  but 
that  he  has  the  right  to  claim  happiness  and  blessing 
from  the  Hand  that  made  him.  Jesus  Christ  has 
drawn  us  to  Himself,  that  we  may  know  the  sweetness 
of  His  presence,  the  cleansing  of  His  blood,  the  stirring 
and  impulse  of  His  indwelling  life  in  us  for  our  own 
joy  and  our  own  completion,  but  also  that  we  may 
be  His  witnesses  and  weapons,  according  to  that  great 
word :  '  This  people  have  I  formed  for  Myself.  They 
shall  shew  forth  My  praise.' 

God  has  '  shined  into  our  hearts  in  order  that  we 
may  give,'  reflecting  the  beams  that  fall  upon  them, 
'  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.'  Brother  and  sister,  if  you 
have  the  Christian  life  in  your  souls,  one  purpose 
of  your  possessing  it  is  that  you  may  bear  witness 
for  Him. 

Again,  such  witness-bearing  is  the  result  of  all  true, 
deep.  Christian  life.  All  life  longs  to  manifest  itself  in 
action.  Every  conviction  that  a  man  has  seeks  for 
utterance ;  especially  so  do  the  beliefs  that  go  deepest 
and  touch  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature  and  relation- 
ships of  a  man.  He  that  perceives  them  is  thereby 
impelled  to  desire  to  utter  them.     There  can  be  no 


260  ACTS  or  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiii. 

real,  deep  possession  of  that  great  truth  of  the  Gospel 
which  we  profess  to  be  the  foundation  of  our  personal 
lives,  unless  we  have  felt  the  impulse  to  spread  the 
name  and  to  declare  the  sweetness  of  the  Lord.  The 
very  same  impulse  that  makes  the  loving  heart  carve 
the  beloved  name  on  the  smooth  rind  of  the  tree 
makes  it  sweet  to  one  who  is  in  real  touch  and  living 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ  to  speak  about  Him.  O 
brother !  there  is  a  very  sharp  test  for  us.  I  know  that 
there  are  hundreds  of  professing  Christians — decent, 
respectable  sort  of  people,  with  a  tepid,  average 
amount  of  Christian  faith  and  principle  in  them — who 
never  felt  that  overmastering  desire,  *I  Tnust  let  this 
thing  out  through  my  lips.'  Why  ?  Why  do  they  not 
feel  it?  Because  their  own  possession  of  Christ  is  so 
superficial  and  partial.  Jeremiah's  experience  will  be 
repeated  where  there  is  vigorous  Christian  life :  '  Thy 
word  shut  up  in  my  bones  was  like  a  fire ' — that  burned 
itself  through  all  the  mass  that  was  laid  upon  it,  and 
ate  its  way  victoriously  into  the  light — 'and  I  was 
weary  with  forbearing,  and  I  could  not  stay.'  Christian 
men  and  women,  do  you  know  anything  of  that  o'er- 
mastering  impulse  ?  If  you  do  not,  look  to  the  depth 
and  reality  of  your  Christian  profession. 

Again,  this  witnessing  is  the  condition  of  all  strong 
life.  If  you  keep  nipping  the  buds  off  a  plant  you 
will  kill  it.  If  you  never  say  a  word  to  a  human 
soul  about  your  Christianity,  your  Christianity  will 
tend  to  evaporate.  Action  confirms  and  strengthens 
convictions ;  speech  deepens  conviction ;  and  although 
it  is  possible  for  any  one — and  some  of  us  ministers  are 
in  great  danger  of  making  the  possibility  a  reality — to 
talk  away  his  religion,  for  one  of  us  who  loses  it  by 
speaking  too  much  about  it,  there  are  twenty  that 


V.  11]  CHRIST'S  WITNESSES  261 

damage  it  by  speaking  too  little.  Shut  it  up,  and  it 
will  be  like  some  wild  creature  put  into  a  cellar,  fast 
locked  and  unventilated ;  when  you  open  the  door  it 
will  be  dead.  Shut  it  up,  as  so  many  of  our  average 
Christian  professors  and  members  of  our  congrega- 
tions and  churches  do,  and  when  you  come  to  take  it 
out,  it  will  be  like  some  volatile  perfume  that  has  been 
put  into  a  vial  and  locked  away  in  a  drawer  and 
forgotten;  there  will  be  nothing  left  but  an  empty 
bottle,  and  a  rotten  cork.  Speak  your  faith  if  you 
would  have  your  faith  strengthened.  Muzzle  it,  and 
you  go  a  long  way  to  kill  it.  You  are  witnesses,  and 
you  cannot  blink  the  obligation  nor  shirk  the  duties 
without  damaging  that  in  yourselves  to  which  you  are 
to  witness. 

Further,  this  task  of  witnessing  for  Christ  can  be 
done  by  all  kinds  of  life.  I  do  not  need  to  dwell  upon 
the  distinction  between  the  two  great  methods  which 
open  themselves  out  before  every  one  of  us.  They  do 
so ;  for  direct  work  in  speaking  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  possible  for  every  Christian,  whoever  he  or 
she  is,  however  weak,  ignorant,  uninfluential,  with 
howsoever  narrow  a  circle.  There  is  always  somebody 
that  God  means  to  be  the  audience  of  His  servant 
whenever  that  servant  speaks  of  Christ.  Do  you  not 
know  that  there  are  people  in  this  world,  as  wives, 
children,  parents,  friends  of  different  sorts,  who  would 
listen  to  you  more  readily  than  they  would  listen  to 
any  one  else  speaking  about  Jesus  Christ?  Friend, 
have  you  utilised  these  relationships  in  the  interests  of 
that  great  Name,  and  in  the  highest  interests  of  the 
persons  that  sustain  them  to  you,  and  of  yourselves 
who  sustain  these  to  them  ? 

And  then  there  is  indirect  work  that  we  can  all  do  in 


262  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiii. 

various  ways.  I  do  not  mean  only  by  giving  money, 
though  of  course  that  is  important,  but  I  mean  all  the 
manifold  ways  in  which  Christian  people  can  show 
their  sympathy  with,  and  their  interest  in,  the  various 
forms  in  which  adventurous,  chivalrous,  enterprising 
Christian  benevolence  expresses  itself.  It  was  an  old 
law  in  Israel  that  *  as  his  part  was  that  went  down  into 
the  battle,  so  should  his  part  be  that  tarried  by  the 
stuff.'  When  victory  was  won  and  the  spoil  came  to 
be  shared,  the  men  who  had  stopped  behind  and  looked 
after  the  base  of  operations  and  kept  open  the  com- 
munications received  the  same  portion  as  the  man 
that,  in  the  front  rank  of  the  battle,  had  rushed  upon 
the  spears  of  the  Amalekites.  Why?  Because  from 
the  same  motive  they  had  been  co-operant  to  the 
same  great  end.  The  Master  has  taken  up  that  very 
thought,  and  has  applied  it  in  relation  to  the  indirect 
work  of  His  people,  when  He  says,  '  He  that  receiveth 
a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet  shall  receive  a 
prophet's  reward.'  The  motive  is  the  same  ;  therefore 
the  essential  character  of  the  act  is  the  same ;  there- 
fore the  recompense  is  identical.  You  can  witness  for 
Christ  directly,  if  you  can  say — and  you  can  all  say  if 
you  like — 'We  have  found  the  Messias,'  and  you  can 
witness  for  Christ  by  casting  yourselves  earnestly 
into  sympathy  with  and,  so  far  as  possible,  help  to 
the  work  that  your  brethren  are  doing.  Dear  friends, 
I  beseech  you  to  remember  that  we  are  all  of  us,  if  we 
are  His  followers,  bound  in  our  humble  measure  and 
degree,  and  with  a  reverent  apprehension  of  the  gulf 
between  us  and  Him,  still  to  take  up  His  words  and 
say,  'To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause 
came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  to 
the  truth,' 


T.li]  CHRIST'S  WITNESSES  263 

II.  There  is  a  second  thought  that  I  would  suggest 
from  these  words,  and  that  is  that  secular  events  are 
ordered  with  a  view  to  this  witnessing. 

Take  the  case  before  us.  Here  are  two  independent 
and  hostile  powers ;  on  the  one  hand  the  bigoted 
Jewish  Sanhedrim,  hating  the  Roman  yoke ;  and  on 
the  other  hand  the  haughty  and  cruel  pressure  of  that 
yoke  on  a  recalcitrant  and  reluctant  people:  and 
these  two  internecine  enemies  are  working  on  their 
own  lines,  each  very  willing  to  thwart  the  other, 
Mechanicians  talk  of  the  'composition  of  forces,'  by 
which  two  pressures  acting  at  right  angles  to  each  other 
on  a  given  object,  impart  to  it  a  diagonal  motion. 
The  Sanhedrim  on  the  one  side,  representing  Judaism, 
and  the  captain  of  the  castle  on  the  other,  repre- 
senting the  Roman  power,  work  into  each  other's 
hands,  although  neither  of  them  knows  it ;  and  work 
out  the  fulliiment  of  a  purpose  that  is  hidden  from 
them  both. 

No  doubt  it  would  be  a  miserably  inadequate  account 
of  things  to  say  that  the  Roman  Empire  came  into 
existence  for  the  sake  of  propagating  Christianity. 
No  doubt  it  is  always  dangerous  to  account  for  any 
phenomenon  by  the  ends  which,  to  our  apprehen- 
sion, it  serves.  But  at  the  same  time  the  study  of 
the  purposes  which  a  given  thing,  being  in  existence, 
serves,  and  the  study  of  the  forces  which  brought  it 
into  existence,  ought  to  be  combined,  and  when  com- 
bined, they  present  a  double  reason  for  adoring  that 
great  Providence  which  '  makes  the  wrath  of  men  to 
praise  '  it,  and  uses  for  moral  and  spiritual  ends  the 
creatures  that  exist,  the  events  that  emerge,  and 
even  the  godless  doings  of  godless  men. 

So  here  we  have  a  standing  example  of  the  way  in 


264  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiii. 

which,  like  silk-worms  that  are  spinning  threads  for  a 
web  that  they  have  no  notion  of,  the  deeds  of  men  that 
think  not  so  are  yet  grasped  and  twined  together  by 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  of  providence,  so  as  to  bring 
about  the  realisation  of  His  great  purposes.  And  that 
is  always  so,  more  or  less  clearly. 

For  instance,  if  we  wish  to  understand  our  own  lives, 
do  not  let  us  dwell  upon  the  superfinalities  of  joy  or 
sorrow,  gain  or  loss,  but  let  us  get  down  to  the  depth, 
and  see  that  all  these  externals  have  two  great  pur- 
poses in  view — first,  that  we  may  be  made  like  our 
Lord,  as  the  Scripture  itself  says,  '  That  we  may  be 
partakers  of  His  holiness,'  and  then  that  we  may  bear 
our  testimony  to  His  grace  and  love.  Oh,  if  we  would 
only  look  at  life  from  that  point  of  view,  we  should  be 
brought  to  a  stand  less  often  at  what  we  choose  to  call 
the  mysteries  of  providence !  Not  enjoyment,  not 
sorrow,  but  our  perfecting  in  godliness  and  of  the 
increase  of  our  power  and  opportunities  to  bear 
witness  to  Him,  are  the  intention  of  all  that  befalls  us. 

I  need  not  speak  about  how  this  same  principle  must 
be  applied,  by  every  man  who  believes  in  a  divine 
providence,  to  the  wider  events  of  the  world's  history. 
I  need  not  dwell  upon  that,  nor  will  your  time  allow 
me  to  do  it,  but  one  word  I  should  like  to  say,  and 
that  is  that  surely  the  two  facts  that  we,  as  Christians, 
possess,  as  we  believe,  the  pure  faith,  and  that  we,  as 
Englishmen,  are  members  of  a  community  whose 
influence  is  world-wide,  do  not  come  together  for  no- 
thing, or  only  that  some  of  you  might  make  fortunes 
out  of  the  East  Indian  and  China  trade,  but  in  order 
that  all  we  English  Christians  might  feel  that,  our 
speaking  as  we  do  the  language  which  is  destined,  as  it 
would  appear,  to  run  round  the  whole  world,  and  our 


V.  11]  CHRIST'S  WITNESSES  265 

having,  as  we  have,  the  faith  which  we  believe  brings 
salvation  to  every  man  of  every  race  and  tongue  who 
accepts  it,  and  our  having  this  responsible  necessary 
contact  with  the  heathen  races,  lay  upon  us  English 
Christians  obligations  the  pressure  and  solemnity  of 
which  we  have  yet  failed  to  appreciate. 

Paul  was  immortal  till  his  work  was  done.  'Be  of 
good  cheer,  Paul;  thou  must  bear  witness  at  Rome.' 
And  so,  for  ourselves  and  for  the  Gospel  that  we 
profess,  the  same  divine  Providence  which  orders 
events  so  that  His  servants  may  have  the  oppor- 
tunities of  witnessing  to  it,  will  take  care  that  it  shall 
not  perish— notwithstanding  all  the  premature  jubila- 
tion of  anti-Christian  literature  and  thought  in  this 
day — until  it  has  done  its  work.  We  need  have  no 
fear  for  ourselves,  for  though  our  blind  eyes  often  fail 
to  see,  and  our  bleeding  hearts  often  fail  to  accept,  the 
conviction  that  there  are  no  unfinished  lives  for  His 
servants,  yet  we  may  be  sure  that  He  will  watch  over 
each  of  His  children  till  they  have  finished  the  work 
that  He  gives  them  to  do.  And  we  may  be  sure,  in 
regard  to  His  great  Gospel,  that  nothing  can  sink  the 
ship  that  carries  Christ  and  His  fortunes.  '  Be  of  good 
cheer  .  .  .  thou  hast  borne  witness  .  .  .  thou  must 
bear  witness.' 

III.  Lastly,  we  have  here  another  principle — namely 
that  faithful  witnessing  is  rewarded  by  further 
witnessing. 

'  Thou  hast  ...  in  Jerusalem,'  the  little  city  perched 
upon  its  crag ;  *  Thou  must  ...  in  Rome,'  the  great 
capital  seated  on  its  seven  hills.  The  reward  for 
work  is  more  work.  Jesus  Christ  did  not  say  to 
the  Apostle,  though  he  was  'wearied  with  that 
which    came    upon    him    daily,    the    care   of  all    the 


266  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiii. 

churches,'  *Thou  hast  borne  witness,  and  now  come 
apart  and  rest ' ;  but  He  said  to  him, '  Thou  hast  filled  the 
smaller  sphere ;  for  recompense  I  put  thee  into  a  larger.* 

That  is  the  law  for  life  and  everywhere,  the  tools  to 
the  hand  that  can  use  them.  The  man  that  can  do  a 
thing  gets  it  to  do  in  too  large  a  measure,  as  he  some- 
times thinks  ;  but  he  gets  it,  and  it  is  all  right  that  he 
should.  'To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given.'  And  it  is 
the  law  for  heaven.  '  Thou  hast  borne  witness  down  on 
the  little  dark  earth ;  come  up  higher  and  witness  for 
Me  here,  amid  the  blaze.' 

It  is  the  law  for  this  Christian  work  of  ours.  If  you 
have  shone  faithfully  in  your  'little  corner,'  as  the 
child's  hymn  says,  you  will  be  taken  out  and  set  upon 
the  lamp-stand,  that  you  '  may  give  light  to  all  that  are 
in  the  house.'  And  it  is  the  law  for  this  great  enter- 
prise of  Christian  missions,  as  we  all  know.  We  are 
overwhelmed  with  our  success.  Doors  are  opening 
around  us  on  every  side.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  work 
that  English  Churches  can  do,  except  their  inclination 
to  do  it.  But  the  opportunities  open  to  us  require  a 
far  deeper  consecration  and  a  far  closer  dwelling 
beside  our  Master  than  we  have  ever  realised.  We 
are  half  asleep  yet ;  we  do  not  know  our  resources  in 
men,  in  money,  in  activity,  in  prayer. 

Surely  there  can  be  no  sadder  sign  of  decadence  and 
no  surer  precursor  of  extinction  than  to  fall  beneath 
the  demands  of  our  day;  to  have  doors  opening  at 
which  we  are  too  lazy  or  selfish  to  go  in ;  to  be  so  sound 
asleep  that  we  never  hear  the  man  of  Macedonia  when 
he  stands  by  us  and  cries,  '  Come  over  and  help  us  ! ' 
We  are  members  of  a  Church  that  God  has  appointed 
to  be  His  witnesses  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  We  are 
citizens  of  a  nation  whose  influence  is  ubiquitous  and 


V.  11]  A  PLOT  DETECTED  267 

felt  in  every  land.  By  both  characters,  God  summons 
us  to  tasks  which  will  tax  all  our  resources  worthily  to 
do.  We  inherit  a  work  from  our  fathers  which  God 
has  shown  that  He  owns  by  giving  us  these  golden 
opportunities.  He  summons  us  :  '  Lengthen  thy  cords 
and  strengthen  thy  stakes.  Come  out  of  Jerusalem; 
come  into  Rome.'  Shall  we  respond?  God  give  us 
grace  to  fill  the  sphere  in  which  He  has  set  us,  till  He 
lifts  us  to  the  wider  one,  where  the  faithfulness  of  the 
steward  is  exchanged  for  the  authority  of  the  ruler, 
and  the  toil  of  the  servant  for  the  joy  of  the  Lord  1 


A  PLOT  DETECTED 

*  And  when  it  was  day,  certain  of  the  Jews  handed  together,  and  bound  them- 
selves Tinder  a  curse,  sajing  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they 
had  killed  Paul.  13.  And  they  were  more  than  forty  which  had  made  this  con- 
spiracy. 14.  And  they  came  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  and  said,  We  have 
bound  ourselves  under  a  great  curse,  that  we  will  eat  nothing  until  we  have  slain 
Paul.  15.  Now  therefore  ye  with  the  council  signify  to  the  chief  captain  that 
he  bring  him  down  unto  you  to-morrow,  as  though  ye  would  inquire  something 
more  perfectly  concerning  him :  and  we,  or  ever  he  come  near,  are  ready  to  kill 
him.  16.  And  when  Paul's  sister's  son  heard  of  their  lying  in  wait,  he  went  and 
entered  into  the  castle,  and  told  Paul.  17.  Then  Paul  called  one  of  the  centurions 
unto  him,  and  said.  Bring  this  young  man  unto  the  chief  captain  :  for  he  hath 
a  certain  thing  to  tell  him.  18.  So  he  took  him,  and  brought  him  to  the  chief 
captain,  and  said,  Paul  the  prisoner  called  me  unto  him,  and  prayed  me  to  bring 
this  young  man  unto  thee,  who  hath  something  to  say  unto  thee.  19.  Then  the 
chief  captain  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  went  with  him  aside  privately,  and  asked 
him,  What  is  that  thou  hast  to  tell  me?  20.  And  he  said.  The  Jews  have  agreed 
to  desire  thee  that  thou  wouldest  bring  down  Paul  to-morrow  into  the  council, 
as  though  they  would  enquire  somewhat  of  him  more  perfectly.  21.  But  do  not 
thou  yield  unto  them  :  for  there  lie  in  wait  for  him  of  them  more  than  forty  men, 
which  have  bound  themselves  with  an  oath,  that  they  will  neither  eat  nor  drink 
till  they  have  killed  him :  and  now  are  they  ready,  looking  for  a  promise  from 
thee.  22.  So  the  chief  captain  then  let  the  young  man  depart,  and  charged  him, 
See  thou  tell  no  man  that  thou  hast  shewed  these  things  to  me.'— Acts  xxiii.  12-22. 

•The  wicked  plotteth  against  the  just.  .  .  .  The  Lord 
will  laugh  at  him.'  The  Psalmist's  experience  and  his 
faith  were  both  repeated  in  Paul's  case.  His  speech 
before  the  Council  had  set  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
squabbling,  and  the  former  had  swallowed  his  Chris- 
tianity for  the  sake  of  his  being  'a  Pharisee  and  the 


268  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiii. 

son  of  a  Pharisee.'  Probably,  therefore,  the  hatchers 
of  this  plot  were  Sadducees,  who  hated  Pharisees  even 
more  than  they  did  Christians.  The  Apostle  himself 
was  afterwards  not  quite  sure  that  his  skilful  throwing 
of  the  apple  of  discord  between  the  two  parties  was 
right  (Acts  xxiv.  21),  and  apjDarently  it  was  the  direct 
occasion  of  the  conspiracy.  A  Christian  man's  defence 
of  himself  and  his  faith  gains  nothing  by  clever  tactics. 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  what  Paul  spoke  'in  that 
hour '  was  taught  him  by  the  Spirit. 

'The  corruption  of  the  best  is  the  worst.'  There  is 
a  close  and  strange  alliance  between  formal  religion 
and  murderous  hatred  and  vulpine  craft,  as  the  history 
of  ecclesiastical  persecution  shows;  and  though  we 
have  done  with  fire  and  faggot  now,  the  same  evil 
passions  and  tempers  do  still  in  modified  form  lie 
very  near  to  a  Christianity  which  has  lost  its  inward 
union  with  Jesus  and  lives  on  surface  adherence  to 
forms.  In  that  sense  too  '  the  letter  killeth.'  We 
lift  up  our  hands  in  horror  at  these  fierce  fanatics, 
'  ready  to  kill '  Paul,  because  he  believed  in  resurrection, 
angel,  and  spirit.  We  need  to  guard  ourselves  lest 
something  of  their  temper  should  be  in  us.  There  is 
a  devilish  ingenuity  about  the  details  of  the  plot,  and 
a  truly  Oriental  mixture  of  murderous  passion  and 
calculating  craft.  The  serpent's  wisdom  and  his  poison 
fangs  are  both  apparent.  The  forty  conspirators  must 
have  been  'ready,'  not  only  to  kill  Paul,  but  to  die 
in  the  attempt,  for  the  distance  from  the  castle  to  the 
council  -  chamber  was  short,  and  the  detachment  of 
legionaries  escorting  the  prisoner  would  have  to  be 
reckoned  with. 

The  pretext  of  desiring  to  inquire  more  fully  into 
Paul's  opinions  derived  speciousness  from  his  ambigu- 


vs.  12-22]  A  PLOT  DETECTED  269 

ous  declaration,  which  had  set  the  Council  by  the  ears 
and  had  stopped  his  examination.  Luke  does  not  tell 
us  what  the  Council  said  to  the  conspirators,  but  we 
learn  from  what  Paul's  nephew  says  in  verse  20  that 
it  'agreed  to  ask  thee  to  bring  down  Paul.'  So  once 
more  the  tail  drove  on  the  head,  and  the  Council 
became  the  tool  of  fierce  zealots.  No  doubt  most  of  its 
members  would  have  shrunk  from  themselves  killing 
Paul,  but  they  did  not  shrink  from  having  a  hand  in 
his  death.  They  were  most  religious  and  respectable 
men,  and  probably  soothed  their  consciences  with 
thinking  that,  after  all,  the  responsibility  was  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  forty  conspirators.  How  men  can 
cheat  themselves  for  a  while  as  to  the  criminality  of 
indirectly  contributing  to  criminal  acts,  and  how  rudely 
the  thin  veil  will  be  twitched  aside  one  day ! 

II.  The  abrupt  introduction  of  Paul's  nephew  into 
the  story  piques  curiosity,  but  we  cannot  say  more 
about  him  than  is  told  us  here.  We  do  not  know 
whether  he  was  moved  by  being  a  fellow-believer  in 
Jesus,  or  simply  by  kindred  and  natural  affection. 
Possibly  he  was,  as  his  uncle  had  been,  a  student  under 
some  distinguished  Rabbi.  At  all  events,  he  must  have 
had  access  to  official  circles  to  have  come  on  the  track 
of  the  plot,  which  would,  of  course,  be  covered  up  as 
much  as  possible.  The  rendering  in  the  margin  of  the 
Revised  Version  gives  a  possible  explanation  of  his 
knowledge  of  it  by  suggesting  that  he  had  'come  in 
upon  them ' ;  that  is,  upon  the  Council  in  their  delibera- 
tions. But  probably  the  rendering  preferred  in  the 
text  is  preferable,  and  we  are  left  to  conjecture  his 
source  of  information,  as  almost  everything  else  about 
him.  But  it  is  more  profitable  to  note  how  God  works 
out  His  purposes  and  delivers  His  servants  by  'natural' 


270  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiii. 

means,  which  yet  are  as  truly  divine  working  as  was 
the  sending  of  the  angel  to  smite  off  Peter's  chains,  or 
the  earthquake  at  Philippi. 

This  lad  was  probably  not  an  inhabitant  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  that  he  should  have  been  there  then,  and 
come  into  possession  of  the  carefully  guarded  secret, 
was  more  than  a  fortunate  coincidence.  It  was  divinely 
ordered,  and  God's  finger  is  as  evident  in  the  concate- 
nation of  co-operating  natural  events  as  in  any  'miracle.' 
To  co-ordinate  these  so  that  they  concur  to  bring  about 
the  fulfilment  of  His  will  may  be  a  less  conspicuous, 
but  is  not  a  less  veritable,  token  of  a  sovereign  Will 
at  work  in  the  world  than  any  miracle  is.  And  in  this 
case  how  wonderfully  separate  factors,  who  think 
themselves  quite  independent,  are  all  handled  like 
pawns  on  a  chessboard  by  Him  who  '  makes  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  girds  Himself  with  the 
remainder  thereof!'  Little  did  the  fiery  zealots  who 
were  eager  to  plunge  their  daggers  into  Paul's  heart,  or 
the  lad  who  hastened  to  tell  him  the  secret  he  had 
discovered,  or  the  Roman  officer  who  equally  hastened 
to  get  rid  of  his  troublesome  prisoner,  dream  that  they 
were  all  partners  in  bringing  about  one  God-determined 
result — the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  that  had  calmed 
Paul  in  the  preceding  night :  '  So  must  thou  bear  wit- 
ness also  at  Rome.' 

III.  Paul  had  been  quieted  after  his  exciting  day  by 
the  vision  which  brought  that  promise,  and  this  new 
peril  did  not  break  his  peace.  With  characteristic 
clear-sightedness  he  saw  the  right  thing  to  do  in  the 
circumstances,  and  with  characteristic  promptitude  he 
did  it  at  once.  Luke  wastes  no  words  in  telling  of  the 
Apostle's  emotions  when  this  formidable  danger  was 
sprung  on  him,  and  the  very  reticence  deepens  the 


vs.  12-22]  A  PLOT  DETECTED  271 

impression  of  Paul's  equanimity  and  practical  wisdom. 
A  man  who  had  had  such  a  vision  last  night  might 
well  possess  his  soul  in  patience,  even  though  such  a 
plot  was  laid  bare  this  morning;  and  each  servant 
of  Jesus  may  be  as  well  assured,  as  was  Paul  the 
prisoner,  that  the  Lord  shall  *  keep  him  from  all  evil,' 
and  that  if  his  life  is  *  witness '  it  will  not  end  till  his 
witness  is  complete.  Our  faith  should  work  in  us 
calmness  of  spirit,  clearness  of  perception  of  the  right 
thing  to  do,  swift  seizing  of  opportunities.  Paul  trusted 
Jesus'  word  that  he  should  be  safe,  whatever  dangers 
threatened,  but  that  trust  stimulated  his  own  efforts 
to  provide  for  his  safety. 

IV.  The  behaviour  of  the  captain  is  noteworthy,  as 
showing  that  he  had  been  impressed  by  Paul's  personal 
magnetism,  and  that  he  had  in  him  a  strain  of  courtesy 
and  kindliness.  He  takes  the  lad  by  the  hand  to  en- 
courage him,  and  he  leads  him  aside  that  he  may 
speak  freely,  and  thereby  shows  that  he  trusted  him. 
No  doubt  the  youth  would  be  somewhat  flustered  at 
being  brought  into  the  formidable  presence  and  by  the 
weight  of  his  tidings,  and  the  great  man's  gentleness 
would  be  a  cordial.  A  superior's  condescension  is  a 
wonderful  lip-opener.  We  all  have  some  people  who 
look  up  to  us,  and  to  whom  small  kindlinesses  from 
us  are  precious.  We  do  not '  render  to  all  their  dues,' 
unless  we  give  gracious  courtesy  to  those  beneath,  as 
well  as  'honour'  to  those  above,  us.  But  the  captain 
could  clothe  himself  too  with  official  reserve  and  keep 
up  the  dignity  of  his  office.  He  preserved  an  impene- 
trable silence  as  to  his  intentions,  and  simply  sealed 
the  young  man's  lips  from  tattling  about  the  plot  or 
the  interview  with  him.  Promptly  he  acted,  without 
waiting  for  the  Council's  application  to  him.    At  once 


272  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

he  prepared  to  despatch  Paul  to  Csesarea,  glad  enough, 
no  doubt,  to  wash  his  hands  of  so  troublesome  a  charge. 
Thus  he  too  was  a  cog  in  the  wheel,  an  instrument  to 
fulfil  the  promise  made  in  vision,  God's  servant  though 
he  knew  it  not. 


A  LOYAL  TRIBUTE  1 

'.  .  .  Seeing  that  by  thee  we  enjoy  great  quietness,  and  that  very  worthy  deeds 

are  done  unto  this  nation  by  thy  providence,  3.  We  accept  it  always  .  .  .  with 
all  thankfulness.'— Acts  xxiv.  2-3. 

These  words  were  addressed  by  a  professional  flatterer 
to  one  of  the  worst  of  the  many  bad  Roman  governors 
of  Syria.  The  speaker  knew  that  he  was  lying,  the 
listeners  knew  that  the  eulogium  was  undeserved ;  and 
among  all  the  crowd  of  bystanders  there  was  perhaps 
not  a  man  who  did  not  hate  the  governor,  and  would 
not  have  been  glad  to  see  him  lying  dead  with  a  dagger 
in  his  breast. 

But  both  the  fawning  Tertullus  and  the  oppressor 
Felix  knew  in  their  heart  of  hearts  that  the  words 
described  what  a  governor  ought  to  be.  And  though 
they  are  touched  with  the  servility  which  is  not  loyalty, 
and  embrace  a  conception  of  the  royal  function  attri- 
buting far  more  to  the  personal  influence  of  a  monarch 
than  our  State  permits,  still  we  may  venture  to  take 
them  as  the  starting-point  for  two  or  three  considera- 
tions suggested  to  us,  by  the  celebrations  of  the  past 
week. 

I  almost  feel  that  I  owe  an  apology  for  turning  to 

that  subject,  for  everything  that  can  be  said  about  it 

has  been  said  far  better  than  I  can  say  it.    But  still, 

partly  because  my  silence  might    be    misunderstood, 

1  Preached  on  the  occasion  of  the  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria. 


vs.  2, 3]  A  LOYAL  TRIBUTE  273 

and  partly  because  an  opportunity  is  thereby  aiforded 
for  looking  from  a  Christian  point  of  view  at  one 
or  two  subjects  that  do  not  ordinarily  come  within 
the  scope  of  one's  ministry,  I  venture  to  choose  such  a 
text  now. 

I.  The  first  thing  that  I  would  take  it  as  suggest- 
ing is  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  personal 
worth. 

I  suppose  the  world  never  saw  a  national  rejoicing 
like  that  through  which  we  have  passed.  For  the 
reigns  that  have  been  long  enough  to  admit  of  it  have 
been  few,  and  those  in  which  intelligently  and  sincerely 
a  whole  nation  of  freemen  could  participate  have 
been  fewer  still.  But  now  all  England  has  been  one ; 
whatever  our  divisions  of  opinion,  there  have  been  no 
divisions  here.  Not  only  have  the  bonfires  flared  from 
hill  to  hill  in  this  little  island  of  ours,  but  all  over  the 
world,  into  every  out  of  the  way  corner  where  our 
widely-spread  race  has  penetrated,  the  same  sentiment 
has  extended.  All  have  yielded  to  the  common  impulse, 
the  rejoicing  of  a  free  people  in  a  good  Queen. 

That  common  sentiment  has  embraced  two  things, 
the  office  and  the  person.  There  was  a  pathetic 
contrast  between  these  two  when  that  sad-hearted 
widow  walked  alone  up  the  nave  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  and  took  her  seat  on  the  stone  of  destiny  on 
which  for  a  millennium  kings  have  been  crowned.  The 
contrast  heightened  both  the  reverence  due  to  the 
office  and  the  sympathy  due  to  the  woman.  The 
Sovereign  is  the  visible  expression  of  national  power, 
the  incarnation  of  England,  living  history,  the  outcome 
of  all  the  past,  the  representative  of  harmonised  and 
blended  freedom  and  law,  a  powerful  social  influence 
from  which  much  good  might  flow,  a  moderating  and 
VOL.  II.  '  S 


274  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

uniting  power  amidst  fierce  partisan  bitterness  and 
hate,  a  check  against  rash  change.  There  is  no  nobler 
office  upon  earth. 

And  when,  as  is  the  case  in  this  long  reign,  that  office 
has  been  filled  with  some  consciousness  of  its  responsi- 
bilities, the  recognition  of  the  fact  is  no  flattery  but 
simple  duty.  We  cannot  attribute  to  the  personal 
initiative  of  the  Queen  the  great  and  beneficent  changes 
which  have  coincided  with  her  reign.  Thank  God, 
no  monarch  can  make  or  mar  England  now.  But  this 
we  can  say, 

'  Her  court  was  pure,  her  life  serene.' 

A  life  touched  with  many  gracious  womanly  charities, 
delighting  in  simple  country  pleasures,  not  strange  to 
the  homes  of  the  poor,  quick  to  sympathise  with 
sorrow,  especially  the  humblest,  as  many  a  weeping 
widow  at  a  pit  mouth  has  thankfully  felt;  sternly 
repressive  of  some  forms  of  vice  in  high  places,  and, 
as  we  may  believe,  not  ignorant  of  the  great  Comforter 
nor  disobedient  to  the  King  of  kings, — for  such  a 
royal  life  a  nation  may  well  be  thankful.  We  out- 
siders do  not  know  how  far  personal  influence  from 
the  throne  has  in  any  case  restrained  or  furthered 
national  action,  but  if  it  be  true,  as  is  alleged,  that 
twice  in  her  reign  the  Queen  has  kept  England  from 
the  sin  and  folly  of  war,  once  from  a  fratricidal  conflict 
with  the  great  new  England  across  the  Atlantic,  then 
we  owe  her  much.  If  in  later  years  that  life  has  some- 
what shrunk  into  itself  and  sat  silent,  with  Grief  for 
a  companion,  those  who  know  a  like  desolation  will 
understand,  and  even  the  happy  may  honour  an  un- 
dying love  and  respect  the  seclusion  of  an  undying 
sorrow.       So   I    say:    'Forasmuch  as   under  thee  we 


vs.  2, 3]  A  LOYAL  TRIBUTE  275 

enjoy  great  quietness,  we  accept  it  with  all  thank- 
fulness.' 

II.  My  text  may  suggest  for  us  a  wider  view  of 
progress  which,  although  not  initiated  by  the  Queen, 
has  coincided  with  her  fifty  years'  reign. 

In  the  Revised  Version,  instead  of  '  worthy  deeds  are 
done,'  we  read  '  evils  are  corrected ' ;  and  that  is  the  true 
rendering.  The  double  function  which  is  here  attri- 
buted falsely  to  an  oppressive  tyrant  is  the  ancient 
ideal  of  monarchy — first,  that  it  shall  repress  disorders 
and  secure  tranquillity  within  the  borders  and  across 
the  frontiers;  and  second,  that  abuses  and  evils  shall 
be  corrected  by  the  foresight  of  the  monarch. 

Now,  in  regard  to  both  these  functions  we  have 
learned  that  a  nation  can  do  them  a  great  deal  better 
than  a  sovereign.  And  so  when  we  speak  of  progress 
during  this  fifty  years'  reign,  we  largely  mean  the 
progress  which  England  in  its  toiling  millions  and  in 
its  thinking  few  has  won  for  itself.  Let  me  in  very 
brief  words  try  to  touch  upon  the  salient  points  of 
that  progress  for  which  as  members  of  the  nation 
it  becomes  us  as  Christian  people  to  be  thankful. 
Enough  hosannas  have  been  sung  already,  and  I  need 
not  add  my  poor  voice  to  them,  about  material  progress 
and  commercial  prosperity  and  the  growth  of  manu- 
facturing industry  and  inventions  and  all  the  rest  of  it. 
I  do  not  for  a  moment  mean  to  depreciate  these,  but 
it  is  of  more  importance  that  a  telegraph  should  have 
something  to  say  than  that  it  should  be  able  to  speak 
across  the  waters,  and  '  man  doth  not  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  God.'  We  who  live  in  a  great  commercial 
community  and  know  how  solid  comfort  and  hope  and 
gladness  are  all  contingent,  in  millions  of  humble  homes, 


276  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv, 

upon  the  manufacturing  industry  of  these  districts, 
shall  never  be  likely  to  underrate  the  enormous  ex- 
pansion in  national  industry,  and  the  consequent  enor- 
mous increase  in  national  wealth,  which  belongs  to 
this  last  half  century.  I  need  say  nothing  about 
these. 

Let  me  remind  you,  and  I  can  only  do  it  in  a  sentence 
or  two,  of  more  important  changes  in  these  fifty  years. 
English  manners  and  morals  have  been  bettered,  much 
of  savagery  and  coarseness  has  been  got  rid  of ;  low, 
cruel  amusements  have  been  abandoned.  Thanks  to 
the  great  Total  Abstinence  movement  very  largely, 
the  national  conscience  has  been  stirred  in  regard  to 
the  great  national  sin  of  intoxication.  A  national 
system  of  education  has  come  into  operation  and  is 
working  wonders  in  this  land.  Newspapers  and  books 
are  cheapened;  political  freedom  has  been  extended 
and  '  broadened  slowly  down,'  as  is  safe,  '  from  pre- 
cedent to  precedent,'  so  that  no  party  thinks  now  of 
reversing  any  of  the  changes,  howsoever  fiercely  they 
were  contested  ere  they  were  won.  Religious  thought 
has  widened,  the  sects  have  come  nearer  each  other, 
men  have  passed  from  out  of  a  hard  doctrinal  Chris- 
tianity, in  which  the  person  of  Christ  was  buried 
beneath  the  cobwebs  of  theology,  into  a  far  freer  and 
a  far  more  Christ-regarding  and  Christ-centred  faith. 
And  if  we  are  to  adopt  such  a  point  of  view  as  the 
brave  Apostle  Paul  took,  the  antagonism  against 
religion,  which  is  a  marked  feature  of  our  generation, 
and  contrasts  singularly  with  the  sleepy  acquiescence 
of  fifty  years  ago,  is  to  be  put  down  to  the  credit  side 
of  the  account.  *  For,'  he  said,  like  a  bold  man  believing 
that  he  had  an  irrefragable  truth  in  his  hands, '  I  will 
tarry  here,  for  a  great  door  and  an  effectual  is  opened, 


vs.  2, 3]  A  LOYAL  TRIBUTE  277 

and  there  are  many  adversaries.'  Wherever  a  whole 
nation  is  interested  and  stirred  about  religious  sub- 
jects, even  though  it  may  be  in  contradiction  and 
antagonism,  God's  truth  can  fight  opposition  far  better 
than  it  can  contend  with  indifference.  Then  if  we 
look  upon  our  churches,  whilst  there  is  amongst  them 
all  abounding  worldliness  much  to  be  deplored,  there 
is  also,  thank  God,  springing  up  amongst  us  a  new 
consciousness  of  responsibility,  which  is  not  confined 
to  Christian  people,  for  the  condition  of  the  poor  and 
the  degraded  around  us  ;  and  everywhere  we  see  good 
men  and  women  trying  to  stretch  their  hands  across 
these  awful  gulfs  in  our  social  system  which  make 
such  a  danger  in  our  modern  life,  and  to  reclaim  the 
outcasts  of  our  cities,  the  most  hopeless  of  all  the 
heathen  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  These  things,  on 
which  I  have  touched  with  the  lightest  hand,  all  taken 
together  do  make  a  picture  for  which  we  may  be 
heartily  thankful. 

Only,  brethren,  let  us  remember  that  that  sort 
of  talk  about  England's  progress  may  very  speedily 
become  offensive  self-conceit,  and  a  measuring  of  our- 
selves with  ludicrous  self-satisfaction  against  all  other 
nations.  There  is  a  bastard  p-atriotism  which  has 
been  very  loud-mouthed  in  tlaeee  last  days,  of  which 
wise  men  should  beware. 

Further,  such  a  contemplation  of  the  elements  of 
national  progress,  which  we  owe  to  no  monarch  and 
to  no  legislature,  but  largely  to  the  indomitable  pluck 
and  energy  of  our  people,  to  Anglo-Saxon  persistence 
not  knowing  when  it  is  beaten,  and  to  the  patient 
meditation  of  thoughtful  minds  and  the  self-denying 
efforts  of  good  philanthropical  and  religious  people — 
such  a  contemplation,  I  sa"^  may  come  between  us  and 


278  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

the  recognition  of  the  highest  source  from  which  it 
flows,  and  be  corrupted  into  forgetfulness  of  God. 
'  Beware  lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  and 
thy  silver  and  thy  gold  is  multiplied,  and  all  that 
thou  hast  is  multiplied,  then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up, 
and  thou  forget  the  Lord  thy  God  .  ;  .  and  thou  say 
in  thine  heart,  My  power,  and  the  might  of  mine  hand, 
hath  gotten  me  this  wealth.  But  thou  shalt  remember 
the  Lord  thy  God,  for  it  is  He  that  giveth  thee  power 
to  get  wealth.' 

And  the  last  caution  that  I  would  put  in  here  is,  let 
us  beware  lest  the  hosannas  over  national  progress 
shall  be  turned  into  '  Rest  and  be  thankful,'  or  shall 
ever  come  in  the  way  of  the  strenuous  and  persistent 
reaching  forth  to  the  fair  ideal  that  lies  so  far 
before  us. 

III.  That  leads  me  to  the  last  point  on  which  I  would 
say  a  word,  viz.,  that  my  text  with  its  reference  to 
the  correction  of  evils,  as  one  of  the  twin  functions 
of  the  monarch,  naturally  suggests  to  us  the  thought 
which  shoult^  follow  all  recognition  of  progress  in  the 
past — the  consideration  of  what  yet  remains  to  be 
done,. 

A  great  controversy  has  been  going  on,  or  at  least 
a  remarkable  diflereuoe  of  opinion  has  been  expressed 
in  recent  months  by  two  of  the  greatest  minds  and 
clearest  heads  in  England;  one  of  our  greatest  poets 
and  one  of  our  greatest  statesmen.  The  one  looking 
back  over  sixty  years  sees  but  foiled  aspirations  and 
present  (devildom  and  misery.  The  other  looking  back 
over  the  same  period  sees  accomplished  dreams  and 
the  prophecy  of  further  progress.  It  is  not  for  me  to 
enter  upon  the  strife  between  such  authorities.  Both 
are  right.    Much  has  beer  "^  hieved.    *  There  remaineth 


vs.  2, 3]  A  LOYAL  TRIBUTE  279 

yet  very  much  land  to  be  possessed.'  Whatever  have 
been  the  victories  and  the  blessings  of  the  past,  there 
are  rotten  places  in  our  social  state  which,  if  not 
cauterised  and  healed,  will  break  out  into  widespread 
and  virulent  sores.  There  are  dangers  in  the  near 
future  which  may  well  task  the  skill  of  the  bravest 
and  the  faith  of  the  most  trustful.  There  are  clouds 
on  the  horizon  which,  may  speedily  turn  jubilations 
into  lamentations,  and  the  best  security  against  these 
is  that  each  of  us  in  his  place,  as  a  unit  however  in- 
significant in  the  great  body  politic,  should  use  our 
little  influence  on  the  side  that  makes  for  righteousness, 
and  see  to  it  that  we  leave  some  small  corner  of  this 
England,  which  God  has  given  us  in  charge,  sweeter 
and  holier  because  of  our  lives.  The  ideal  for  you 
Christian  men  and  women  is  the  organisation  of 
society  on  Christian  principles.  Have  we  got  to  that 
yet,  or  within  sight  of  it,  do  you  suppose?  Look  round 
you.  Does  anybody  believe  that  the  present  arrange- 
ments in  connection  with  unrestricted  competition  and 
the  distribution  of  wealth  coincide  accurately  with  the 
principles  of  the  New  Testament  ?  Will  anybody  tell 
me  that  the  state  of  a  hundred  streets  within  a  mile 
of  this  spot  is  what  it  would  be  if  the  Christian  men 
of  this  nation  lived  the  lives  that  they  ought  to  live? 
Could  there  be  such  rottenness  and  corruption  if  the 
*  salt '  had  not  '  lost  his  savour '  ?  Will  anybody  tell  me 
that  the  disgusting  vice  which  our  newspapers  do 
not  think  themselves  degraded  by  printing  in  loath- 
some detail,  and  so  bringing  the  foulness  of  a  common 
sewer  on  to  every  breakfast-table  in  the  kingdom,  is 
in  accordance  with  the  organisation  of  society  on 
Christian  principles  ?  Intemperance,  social  impurity, 
wide,  dreary  tracts  of  ignorance,  degradation,  bestiality, 


280  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiv. 

the  awful  condition  of  the  lowest  layer  in  our  great 
cities,  crushed  like  some  crumbling  bricks  beneath  the 
ponderous  weight  of  the  splendid  superstructure,  the 
bitter  partisan  spirit  of  politics,  where  the  followers 
of  each  chief  think  themselves  bound  to  believe  that 
he  is  immaculate  and  that  the  other  side  has  no  honour 
or  truth  belonging  to  it — these  things  testify  against 
English  society,  and  make  one  almost  despair  when 
one  thinks  that,  after  a  thousand  years  and  more  of 
professing  Christianity,  that  is  all  that  we  can  show 
for  it. 

O  brethren !  we  may  be  thankful  for  what  has 
been  accomplished,  but  surely  there  had  need  also  to 
be  penitent  recognition  of  failure  and  defect.  And  I 
lay  it  on  the  consciences  of  all  that  listen  to  me  now 
to  see  to  it  that  they  do  their  parts  as  members 
of  this  body  politic  of  England.  A  great  heritage 
has  come  down  from  our  fathers ;  pass  it  on  bettered 
by  your  self-denial  and  your  efforts.  And  remember 
that  the  way  to  mend  a  kingdom  is  to  begin  by 
mending  yourselves,  and  letting  Christ's  kingdom  come 
in  your  own  hearts.  Next  we  are  bound  to  try  to 
further  its  coming  in  the  hearts  of  others,  and  so  to 
promote  its  leavening  society  and  national  life.  No 
Christian  is  clear  from  the  blood  of  men  and  the  guilt 
of  souls  who  does  not,  according  to  opportunity  and 
capacity,  repair  before  his  own  door,  and  seek  to  make 
some  one  know  the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ. 

There  is  no  finality  for  a  Christian  patriot  until  his 
country  be  organised  on  Christian  principles,  and  so 
from  being  merely  a  '  kingdom  of  the  world '  become 
'  a  Kingdom  of  our  God  and  of  His  Christ.'  To  help 
forward  that  consummation,  by  however  little,  is  the 


vs.  2,3]         PAUL  BEFORE  FELIX  281 

noblest  service  that  prince  or  peasant  can  render  to  his 
country.  By  conformity  to  the  will  of  God  and  not 
by  material  progress  or  intellectual  enlightenment  is 
a  state  prosperous  and  strong.  To  keep  His  statutes 
and  judgments  is  '  your  wisdom  and  understanding  in 
the  sight  of  the  nations,  which  shall  hear  all  these 
statutes  and  say,  Surely  this  great  nation  is  a  wise 
and  understanding  people.' 


PAUL  BEFORE  FELIX 

'Then  Paul,  after  that  the  governor  had  beckoned  unto  him  to  speak,  answered. 
Forasmuch  as  I  know  that  thou  hast  been  of  many  years  a  judge  unto  this  nation, 
I  do  the  more  cheerfully  answer  for  myself :  11.  Because  that  thou  mayest  under- 
stand, that  there  are  yet  but  twelve  days  since  I  went  up  to  Jerusalem  for  to 
worship.  12.  And  they  neither  found  me  in  the  temple  disputing  with  any  man, 
neither  raising  up  the  people,  neither  in  the  synagogues,  nor  in  the  city:  13. 
Neither  can  they  prove  the  things  whereof  they  now  accuse  me.  14.  But  this  I 
confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the  way  which  they  call  heresy,  so  worship  T  the 
God  of  my  fathers,  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  law  and  in  the 
prophets :  15.  And  have  hope  toward  God,  which  they  themselves  also  allow, 
that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust.  16.  And 
herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward 
God,  and  toward  men,  17.  Now  after  many  years  I  came  to  bring  alms  to  my 
nation,  and  offerings.  18.  Whereupon  certain  Jews  from  Asia  found  me  purified 
in  the  temple,  neither  with  multitude,  nor  with  tumult.  19.  Who  ought  to  have 
been  here  before  thee,  and  object,  if  they  had  ought  against  me.  20.  Or  else  leb 
these  same  here  say,  if  they  have  foimd  any  evil-doing  in  me,  while  I  stood  before 
the  council,  21.  Except  it  be  for  this  one  voice,  that  I  cried  standing  among  them. 
Touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question  by  you  this  day. 
22.  And  when  Felix  heard  these  things,  having  more  perfect  knowledge  of  that 
way,  he  deferred  them,  and  said.  When  Lysias  the  chief  captain  shall  come  down, 
J.  will  know  the  uttermost  of  your  matter.  23.  And  he  commanded  a  centurion  to 
keep  Paul,  and  to  let  him  have  liberty,  and  that  he  should  forbid  none  of  his 
acquaintance  to  minister  or  come  unto  him.  24.  And  after  certain  days,  when 
Felix  came  with  his  wife  Drusilla,  which  was  a  Jewess,  he  sent  for  Paul,  and  heard 
him  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ.  25.  And  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come,  Felix  trembled,  and  answered.  Go  thy  way  for 
this  time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  for  thee.'— Acts  xxiv.  10-25. 

Tertullus  made  three  charges  against  Paul:  first,  that 
he  incited  to  rebellion ;  second,  that  he  was  a  principal 
member  of  a  '  sect ' ;  third  (with  a  '  moreover,'  as  if  an 
afterthought),  that  he  had  profaned  the  Temple.  It 
was  more  clever  than  honest  to  put  the  real  cause  of 
Jewish  hatred  last,  since  it  was  a  trifle  in  Roman  eyes, 


282  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiv. 

and  to  put  first  the  only  thing  that  Felix  would  think 
worth  notice.  A  duller  man  than  he  might  have 
scented  something  suspicious  in  Jewish  officials  being 
so  anxious  to  suppress  insurrection  against  Rome, 
and  probably  he  had  his  own  thoughts  about  the 
good  faith  of  the  accusers,  though  he  said  nothing. 
Paul  takes  up  the  three  points  in  order.  Unsupported 
charges  can  only  be  met  by  emphatic  denials. 

I.  Paul's  speech  is  the  first  part  of  the  passage.  Its 
dignified,  courteous  beginning  contrasts  well  with  the 
accuser's  dishonest  flattery.  Paul  will  not  lie,  but  he 
will  respect  authority,  and  will  conciliate  when  he  can 
do  so  with  truth.  Felix  had  been  'judge'  for  several 
years,  probably  about  six.  What  sort  of  a  judge  he 
had  been  Paul  will  not  say.  At  any  rate  he  had  gained 
experience  which  might  help  him  in  picking  his  way 
through  TertuUus's  rhetoric. 

The  Apostle  answers  the  first  charge  with  a  flat 
denial,  with  the  remark  that  as  the  whole  affair  was 
less  than  a  fortnight  old  the  truth  could  easily  be  ascer- 
tained, and  that  the  time  was  very  short  for  the  Jews 
to  have  '  found '  him  such  a  dangerous  conspirator,  and 
with  the  obviously  unanswerable  demand  for  proof  to 
back  up  the  charge.  In  the  absence  of  witnesses  there 
was  nothing  more  to  be  done  about  number  one  of  the 
accusations,  and  a  just  judge  would  have  said  so  and 
sent  Tertullus  and  his  clients  about  their  business. 

The  second  charge  Paul  both  denies  and  admits.  He 
does  belong  to  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  But 
that  is  not  a  *  sect ' ;  it  is  '  the  Way.'  It  is  not  a  diverg- 
ence from  the  path  in  which  the  fathers  have  walked, 
trodden  only  by  some  self-willed  schismatics,  but  it  is  the 
one  God-appointed  path  of  life,  '  the  old  way,'  the  only 
road  by  which  a  man  can  walk  nobly  and  travel  to  the 


vs.  10-25]      PAUL  BEFORE  FELIX  283 

skies.  Paul's  whole  doctrine  as  to  the  relation  of  Juda- 
ism to  Christianity  is  here  in  germ  and  in  a  form 
adapted  to  Felix's  comprehension.  This  so-called  sect 
(ver.  14  takes  up  TertuUus's  word  in  ver.  5)  is  the  true 
Judaism,  and  its  members  are  more  truly  '  Jews '  than 
they  who  are  such  'outwardly.'  For  what  has  Paul 
cast  away  in  becoming  a  Christian  ?  Not  the  worship 
of  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob, 
not  the  law,  not  the  prophets,  not  the  hope  of  a  resur- 
rection. 

He  does  not  say  that  he  practises  all  the  things 
written  in  the  law,  but  that  he  '  believes '  them.  Then 
the  law  was  revelation  as  well  as  precept,  and  was 
to  be  embraced  by  faith  before  it  could  be  obeyed  in 
practice ;  it  was,  as  he  says  elsewhere,  a  *  schoolmaster 
to  bring  us  unto  Christ.'  Judaism  is  the  bud ;  Chris- 
tianity is  the  bright  consummate  flower.  Paul  was  not 
preaching  his  whole  Gospel,  but  defending  himself  from 
a  specific  charge ;  namely  that,  as  being  a  '  Nazarene,' 
he  had  started  off  from  the  main  line  of  Jewish  reli- 
gion. He  admits  that  he  is  a  '  Nazarene,'  and  he  assumes 
correctly  that  Felix  knew  something  about  them,  but 
he  denies  that  he  is  a  sectary,  and  he  assumes  that  the 
charge  would  be  more  truly  made  against  those  who, 
accusing  him,  disbelieved  in  Christ.  He  hints  that  they 
did  not  believe  in  either  law  or  prophets,  else  they 
would  have  been  Nazarenes  too. 

The  practical  results  of  his  faith  are  stated.  *  Herein ' ; 
that  is  in  the  faith  and  hope  just  spoken  of.  He  will 
not  say  that  these  make  him  blameless  towards  God 
and  men,  but  that  such  blamelessness  is  his  aim,  which 
he  pursues  with  earnest  toil  and  self-control.  A 
Christianity  which  does  not  sovereignly  sway  life  and 
brace  its  professor  up  to  the   self-denial  needful  to 


284  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiv. 

secure  a  conscience  void  of  offence  is  not  Paul's  kind 
of  Christianity.  If  we  move  in  the  circle  of  the  great 
Christian  truths  we  shall  gird  ourselves  to  subdue  the 
flesh,  and  will  covet  more  than  aught  else  the  peace  of 
a  good  conscience.  But,  like  Paul,  we  shall  be  slow  to 
say  that  we  have  attained,  yet  not  afraid  to  say  that 
we  strive  towards,  that  ideal. 

The  third  charge  is  met  by  a  plain  statement  of  his 
real  purpose  in  coming  to  Jerusalem  and  frequenting 
the  Temple.  '  Profane  the  Temple !  Why,  I  came  all 
the  way  from  Greece  on  purpose  to  worship  at  the 
Feast ;  and  I  did  not  come  empty-handed  either,  for  I 
brought  alms  for  my  nation ' — the  contributions  of  the 
Gentiles  to  Jews — 'and  I  was  a  worshipper,  discharg- 
ing the  ceremonial  purifications.'  They  called  him  a 
'  Nazarene ' ;  he  was  in  the  Temple  as  a  '  Nazarite.' 
"Was  it  likely  that,  being  there  on  such  an  errand,  he 
should  have  profaned  it  ? 

He  begins  a  sentence,  which  would  probably  have 
been  an  indignant  one,  about  the  'certain  Jews  from 
Asia,'  the  originators  of  the  whole  trouble,  but  he 
checks  himself  with  a  fine  sense  of  justice.  He  will  say 
nothing  about  absent  men.  And  that  brings  him  back 
to  his  strong  point,  already  urged,  the  absence  of  proof 
of  the  charges.  Tertullus  and  company  had  only  hear- 
say. What  had  become  of  the  people  who  said  they 
saw  him  in  the  Temple  ?  No  doubt  they  had  thought 
discretion  the  better  part  of  valour,  and  were  not 
anxious  to  face  the  Roman  procedure. 

The  close  of  the  speech  carries  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  quarters,  challenging  the  accusers  to  tell  what 
they  had  themselves  heard.  They  could  be  witnesses 
as  to  the  scene  at  the  Council,  which  Tertullus  had 
wisely  said  nothing  about.      Pungent  sarcasm  is  in 


vs.  10-25]      PAUL  BEFORE  FELIX  285 

Paul's  closing  words,  especially  if  we  remember  that 
the  high  officials,  like  Ananias  the  high-priest,  were 
Sadducees.  The  Pharisees  in  the  Council  had  acquitted 
him  when  they  heard  his  profession  of  faith  in  a  resur- 
rection. That  was  his  real  crime,  not  treason  against 
Rome  or  profanation  of  the  Temple.  The  present 
accusers  might  be  eager  for  his  condemnation,  but 
half  of  their  own  Sanhedrim  had  acquitted  him.  *  And 
these  unworthy  Jews,  who  have  cast  off  the  nation's 
hope  and  believe  in  no  resurrection,  are  accusing  me  of 
being  an  apostate !   Who  is  the  sectary — I  or  they  ? ' 

II.  There  was  only  one  righteous  course  for  Felix, 
namely,  to  discharge  the  prisoner.  But  he  yielded  to 
the  same  temptation  as  had  mastered  Pilate,  and  shrank 
from  provoking  influential  classes  by  doing  the  right 
thing.  He  was  the  less  excusable,  because  his  long 
tenure  of  office  had  taught  him  something,  at  all 
events,  of  'the  Way.'  He  had  too  many  crimes  to 
venture  on  raising  enemies  in  his  government ;  he  had 
too  much  lingering  sense  of  justice  to  give  up  an 
innocent  man.  So  like  all  weak  men  in  difficult 
positions  he  temporised,  and  trusted  to  accident  to 
make  the  right  thing  easier  for  him. 

His  plea  for  delay  was  conveniently  indefinite.  When 
was  Lysias  coming?  His  letter  said  nothing  about 
such  an  intention,  and  took  for  granted  that  all  the 
materials  for  a  decision  would  be  before  Felix.  Lysias 
could  tell  no  more.  The  excuse  was  transparent,  but  it 
served  to  stave  off  a  decision,  and  to-morrow  would 
bring  some  other  excuse.  Prompt  carrying  out  of  all 
plain  duty  is  the  only  safety.  The  indulgence  given  to 
Paul,  in  his  light  confinement,  only  showed  how  clearly 
Felix  knew  himself  to  be  doing  wrong,  but  small 
alleviations  do  not  patch  up  a  great  injustice. 


286  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiv. 

III.  One  reading  inserts  in  verse  24  the  statement 
that  Drusilla  wished  to  see  Paul,  and  that  Felix  sum- 
moned him  in  order  to  gratify  her.  Very  probably  she, 
as  a  Jewess,  knew  something  of  '  the  Way,'  and  with 
a  love  of  anything  odd  and  new,  which  such  women 
cannot  do  without,  she  wanted  to  see  this  curious 
man  and  hear  him  talk.  It  might  amuse  her,  and  pass 
an  hour,  and  be  something  to  gossip  about. 

She  and  Felix  got  more  than  they  bargained  for. 
Paul  was  not  now  the  prisoner,  but  the  preacher ;  and 
his  topics  were  not  wanting  in  directness  and  plainness. 
He  '  reasoned  of  righteousness '  to  one  of  the  worst  of 
unrighteous  governors ;  of  '  temperance '  to  the  guilty 
couple  who,  in  calling  themselves  husband  and  wife, 
were  showing  themselves  given  over  to  sinful  passions ; 
and  of  'judgment  to  come'  to  a  man  who,  to  quote  the 
Roman  historian,  'thought  that  he  could  commit  all 
evil  with  impunity.' 

Paul's  strong  hand  shook  even  that  obdurate  soul, 
and  roused  one  of  the  two  sleeping  consciences.  Dru- 
silla may  have  been  too  frivolous  to  be  impressed,  but 
Felix  had  so  much  good  left  that  he  could  be  conscious 
of  evil.  Alas !  he  had  so  much  evil  that  he  suppressed 
the  good.  His  '  convenient  season '  was  then  ;  it  never 
came  again.  For  though  he  communed  with  Paul 
often,  he  trembled  only  once.  So  he  passed  into 
the  darkness. 


FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL 
A  Sermon  to  the  Young 

'  And  as  Paul  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come, 
Felix  trembled,  and  answered,  Go  thy  way  for  this  time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient 
season,  I  will  call  for  thee.'— Acts  xxiv.  25. 

Felix  and  his  brother  had  been  favourite  slaves  of  the 
Emperor,  and  so  had  won  great  power  at  court.  At 
the  date  of  this  incident  he  had  been  for  some  five  or 
six  years  the  procurator  of  the  Roman  province  of 
Judaea;  and  how  he  used  his  power  the  historian 
Tacitus  tells  us  in  one  of  his  bitter  sentences,  in  which 
he  says, '  He  wielded  his  kingly  authority  with  the  spirit 
of  a  slave,  in  all  cruelty  and  lust.' 

He  had  tempted  from  her  husband,  Drusilla,  the 
daughter  of  that  Herod  whose  dreadful  death  is  familiar 
to  us  all;  and  his  court  reeked  with  blood  and  de- 
bauchery. He  is  here  face  to  face  with  Paul  for  the 
second  time.  On  a  former  interview  he  had  seen  good 
reason  to  conclude  that  the  Roman  Empire  was  not  in 
much  danger  from  this  one  Jew  whom  his  countrymen, 
with  suspicious  loyalty,  were  charging  with  sedition; 
and  so  he  had  allowed  him  a  very  large  margin  of 
liberty. 

On  this  second  occasion  he  had  sent  for  him  evidently 
not  as  a  judge,  but  partly  with  a  view  to  try  to  get 
a  bribe  out  of  him,  and  partly  because  he  had  some 
kind  of  languid  interest,  as  most  Romans  then  had,  in 
Oriental  thought — some  languid  interest  perhaps  too 
in  this  strange  man.  Or  he  and  Drusilla  were  possibly 
longing  for  a  new  sensation,  and  not  indisposed  to  give 
a  moment's  glance  at  Paul  with  his  singular  ideas. 

So    they    called    for    the    Apostle,    and    the   guilty 

287 


288  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

couple  found  a  judge  in  their  prisoner.  Paul  does 
not  speak  to  them  as  a  Greek  philosopher,  anxious 
to  please  high  personages,  might  have  done,  but  he 
goes  straight  at  their  sins:  he  reasons  'of  righteous- 
ness' with  the  unjust  judge,  *of  temperance'  with  the 
self-indulgent,  sinful  pair,  'of  the  judgment  to  come' 
with  these  two  who  thought  that  they  could  do 
anything  they  liked  with  impunity.  Christianity  has 
sometimes  to  be  exceedingly  rude  in  reference  to 
the  sins  of  the  upper  classes. 

As  Paul  went  on,  a  strange  fear  began  to  creep  about 
the  heart  of  Felix.  It  is  the  watershed  of  his  life  that 
he  has  come  to,  the  crisis  of  his  fate.  Everything 
depends  on  the  next  five  minutes.  Will  he  yield?  Will 
he  resist?  The  tongue  of  the  balance  trembles  and 
hesitates  for  a  moment,  and  then,  but  slowly,  the 
wrong  scale  goes  down ;  '  Go  thy  way  for  this  time.' 
Ah !  if  he  had  said,  '  Come  and  help  me  to  get  rid  of 
this  strange  fear,'  how  different  all  might  have  been  I 
The  metal  was  at  the  very  point  of  melting.  What 
shape  would  it  take?  It  ran  into  the  wrong  mould, 
and,  as  far  as  we  know,  it  was  hardened  there.  'It 
might  have  been  once,  and  he  missed  it,  lost  it  for  ever. 
No  sign  marked  out  that  moment  from  the  common 
uneventful  moments,  though  it  saw  the  death  of  a 
soul.' 

Now,  my  dear  young  friends,  I  do  not  intend  to  say 
anything  more  to  you  of  this  man  and  his  character, 
but  I  wish  to  take  this  incident  and  its  lessons  and  urge 
them  on  your  hearts  and  consciences. 

I.  Let  me  say  a  word  or  two  about  the  fact,  of  which 
this  incident  is  an  example,  and  of  which  I  am  afraid 
the  lives  of  many  of  you  would  furnish  other  examples, 
that  men  lull  awakened  consciences  to  sleep  and  excuse 


V.  25]  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL  289 

delay  in  deciding  for  Christ  by  half -honest  promises  to 
attend  to  religion  at  some  future  time. 

'Go  thy  way  for  this  time'  is  what  Felix  is  really 
anxious  about.  His  one  thought  is  to  get  rid  of  Paul 
and  his  disturbing  message  for  the  present.  But  he 
does  not  wish  to  shut  the  door  altogether.  He  gives  a 
sop  to  his  conscience  to  stop  its  barking,  and  he  pro- 
bably deceives  himself  as  to  the  gravity  of  his  present 
decision  by  the  lightly  given  promise  and  its  well- 
guarded  indefiniteness,  'When  I  have  a  convenient 
season  I  will  send  for  thee.'  The  thing  he  really  means 
is— Not  now,  at  all  events;  the  thing  he  hoodwinks 
himself  with  is— By  and  by.  Now  that  is  what  I  know 
that  some  of  you  are  doing ;  and  my  purpose  and  earnest 
prayer  are  to  bring  you  now  to  the  decision  which,  by 
one  vigorous  act  of  your  wills,  will  settle  the  question 
for  the  future  as  to  which  God  you  are  going  to  follow. 

So  then  I  have  just  one  or  two  things  to  say  about  this 
first  part  of  my  subject.  Let  me  remind  you  that  how- 
ever beautiful,  however  gracious,  however  tender  and 
full  of  love  and  mercy  and  good  tidings  the  message  of 
God's  love  in  Jesus  Christ  is,  there  is  another  side  to  it, 
a  side  which  is  meant  to  rouse  men's  consciences  and 
to  awaken  men's  fears. 

If  you  bring  a  man  like  the  man  in  the  story,  Felix, 
or  a  very  much  better  man  than  he — any  of  you  who 
hear  me  now — into  contact  with  these  three  thoughts, 
'Righteousness,  temperance,  judgment  to  come,'  the 
effect  of  such  a  direct  appeal  to  moral  convictions  will 
always  be  more  or  less  to  awaken  a  sense  of  failure, 
insufficiency,  defect,  sin,  and  to  create  a  certain  creep- 
ing dread  that  if  I  set  myself  against  the  great  law  of 
God,  that  law  of  God  will  have  a  way  of  crushing  mo. 
The  fear  is  well  founded,  and  not  only  does  the  contem.- 
VOL.  II.  T 


290  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxiv. 

plation  of  God's  laiv  excite  it.  God's  gospel  comes  to  us, 
and  just  because  it  is  a  gospel,  and  is  intended  to  lead 
you  and  me  to  love  and  trust  Jesus  Christ,  and  give  our 
whole  hearts  and  souls  to  Him — just  because  it  is  the 
best '  good  news'  that  ever  came  into  the  world,  it  begins 
often  (not  always,  perhaps)  by  making  a  man  feel  what 
a  sinful  man  he  is,  and  how  he  has  gone  against  God's 
law,  and  how  there  hang  over  him,  by  the  very  neces- 
sities of  the  case  and  the  constitution  of  the  universe, 
consequences  bitter  and  painful.  Now  I  be^'ev^e  that 
there  are  very  few  people  who,  like  you,  come  occa- 
sionally into  contact  with  the  preaching  of  the  truth, 
who  have  not  had  their  moments  when  they  felt — •  Yes, 
it  is  all  true — it  is  all  true.  I  am  bad,  and  I  have  broken 
God's  law,  and  there  is  a  dark  lookout  before  me ! '  I 
believe  that  most  of  us  know  what  that  feeling  is. 

And  now  my  next  step  is — that  the  awakened  con- 
science is  just  like  the  sense  of  pain  in  the  physical 
world,  it  has  a  work  to  do  and  a  mission  to  per- 
form. It  is  meant  to  warn  you  off  dangerous  ground. 
Thank  God  for  pain !  It  keeps  off  death  many  a  time. 
And  in  like  manner  thank  God  for  a  swift  conscience 
that  speaks !  It  is  meant  to  ring  an  alarm-bell  to  us,  to 
make  us,  as  the  Bible  has  it,  '  flee  for  refuge  to  the  hope 
that  is  set  before  us.'  My  imploring  question  to  my 
young  friends  now  is :  '  Have  you  used  that  sense  of 
evil  and  wrongdoing,  when  it  has  been  aroused  in  your 
consciences,  to  lead  you  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  what  have 
you  done  with  it  ? ' 

There  are  two  persons  in  this  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  who  pass  through  the  same  stages  of  feeling 
up  to  a  certain  point,  and  then  they  diverge.  And  the 
two  men's  outline  history  is  the  best  sermon  that  I  can 
preach  upon  this  point.     Felix  becoming  afraid,  recoils, 


V.  25]  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL  291 

shuts  himself  up,  puts  away  the  message  that  disturbs 
him,  and  settles  himself  back  into  his  evil.  The  Philip- 
pian  jailer  becoming  afraid  (the  phrases  in  the  original 
being  almost  identical),  like  a  sensible  man  tries  to  find 
out  the  reason  of  his  fear  and  how  to  get  rid  of  it ; 
and  falls  down  at  the  Apostles'  feet  and  says,  'Sirs, 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?' 

The  fear  is  not  meant  to  last ;  it  is  of  no  use  in  itself. 
It  is  only  an  impelling  motive  that  leads  us  to  look  to 
the  Saviour,  and  the  man  that  uses  it  so  has  used  it 
rightly.  Yet  there  rises  in  many  a  heart  that  tran- 
sparent self-deception  of  delay.  'They  all  with  one 
consent  began  to  make  excuse ' ;  that  is  as  true  to-day 
as  it  was  true  then.  My  experience  tells  me  that  it 
will  be  true  in  regard  to  a  sad  number  of  you  who  will 
go  away  feeling  that  my  poor  word  has  gone  a  little 
way  into  their  hardened  hide,  but  settling  themselves 
back  into  their  carelessness,  and  forgetting  all  impres- 
sions that  have  been  made.  O  dear  young  friend,  do 
not  do  that,  I  beseech  you !  Do  not  stifle  the  whole- 
some alarm  and  cheat  yourself  with  the  notion  of  a 
little  delay ! 

II.  And  now  I  wish  next  to  pass  very  swiftly  in 
review  before  you  some  of  the  reasons  why  we  fall 
into  this  habit  of  self-deceiving,  indecision,  and  delay — 
'  Go  thy  way '  would  be  too  sharp  and  unmistakable  if 
it  were  left  alone,  so  it  is  fined  ofP.  '  I  will  not  commit 
myself  beyond  to-day,'  '  for  this  time  go  thy  way,  and 
when  I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee.' 

What  are  the  reasons  for  such  an  attitude  as  that  ? 
Let  me  enumerate  one  or  two  of  them  as  they  strike 
me.  First,  there  is  the  instinctive,  natural  wish  to  get 
rid  of  a  disagreeable  subject — much  as  a  man,  without 
knowing  what  he  is  doing,  twitches  his  hand  away  from 


292  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

the  surgeon's  lancet.  So  a  great  many  of  us  do  not  like 
— and  no  wonder  that  we  do  not  like — these  thoughts  of 
the  old  Book  about  '  righteousness  and  temperance  and 
judgment  to  come,'  and  make  a  natural  effort  to  turn 
our  minds  away  from  the  contemplation  of  the  subject, 
because  it  is  painful  and  unpleasant.  Do  you  think  it 
would  be  a  wise  thing  for  a  man,  if  he  began  to  suspect 
that  he  was  insolvent,  to  refuse  to  look  into  his  books 
or  to  take  stock,  and  let  things  drift,  till  there  was  not 
a  halfpenny  in  the  pound  for  anybody  ?  What  do  you 
suppose  his  creditors  would  call  him  ?  They  would  not 
compliment  him  on  either  his  honesty  or  his  prudence, 
would  they  ?  And  is  it  not  the  part  of  a  wise  man,  if 
he  begins  to  see  that  something  is  wrong,  to  get  to  the 
bottom  of  it  and,  as  quickly  as  possible,  to  set  it  right  ? 
And  what  do  you  call  people  who,  suspecting  that  there 
may  be  a  great  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  ship,  never 
man  the  pumps  or  do  any  caulking,  but  say,  '  Oh,  she 
will  very  likely  keep  afloat  until  we  get  into  harbour '  ? 

Do  you  not  think  that  it  would  be  a  wiser  thing  for  you 
if,  because  the  subject  is  disagreeable,  you  would  force 
yourself  to  think  about  it  until  it  became  agreeable  to 
you  ?  You  can  change  it  if  you  will,  and  make  it  not  at 
all  a  shadow  or  a  cloud  or  a  darkness  over  you.  And 
you  can  scarcely  expect  to  claim  the  designation  of 
wise  and  prudent  orderers  of  your  lives  until  you  do. 
Certainly  it  is  not  wise  to  shuffle  a  thing  out  of  sight 
because  it  is  not  pleasing  to  think  about. 

Then  there  is  another  reason.  A  number  of  our 
young  people  say, '  Go  thy  way  for  this  time,'  because 
you  have  a  notion  that  it  is  time  enough  for  you  to 
begin  to  think  about  serious  things  and  be  religious 
when  you  grow  a  bit  older.  And  some  of  you  even,  I 
dare  say,  have  an  idea  that  religion  is  all  very  well  for 


V.25]  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL  293 

people  that  are  turned  sixty  and  are  going  down  the 
hill,  but  that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  for  you.  Shake- 
speare puts  a  grim  word  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  his 
characters,  which  sets  the  theory  of  many  of  us  in  its 
true  light,  when,  describing  a  dying  man  calling  on 
God,  he  makes  the  narrator  say :  '  I,  to  comfort  him,  bid 
him  he  should  not  think  of  God.  I  hoped  there  was  no 
need  to  trouble  himself  with  any  such  thoughts  yet.' 

Some  of  my  hearers  practically  live  on  that  principle, 
and  are  tempted  to  regard  thoughts  of  God  as  in  place 
only  among  medicine  bottles,  or  when  the  shadows  of 
the  grave  begin  to  fall  cold  and  damp  on  our  path. 
*  Young  men  will  be  young  men,'  '  We  must  sow 
our  wild  oats,'  '  You  can't  put  old  heads  on  young 
shoulders' — and  such  like  sayings,  often  practically 
mean  that  vice  and  godlessness  belong  to  youth,  and 
virtue  and  religion  to  old  age,  just  as  flowers  do  to 
spring  and  fruit  to  autumn.  Let  me  beseech  you  not  to 
be  deceived  by  such  a  notion ;  and  to  search  your  own 
thoughts  and  see  whether  it  be  one  of  the  reasons 
which  leads  you  to  say,  '  Go  thy  way  for  this  time.' 

Then  again  some  of  us  fall  into  this  habit  of  putting 
off  the  decision  for  Christ,  not  consciously,  not  by  any 
distinct  act  of  saying,  '  No,  I  will  not,'  but  simply  by 
letting  the  impressions  made  on  our  hearts  and  con- 
sciences be  crowded  out  of  them  by  cares  and  enjoy- 
ments and  pleasures  and  duties  of  this  world.  If  you 
had  not  so  much  to  study  at  College,  you  would  have 
time  to  think  about  religion.  If  you  had  not  so 
many  parties  and  balls  to  go  to,  you  would  have  time 
to  nourish  and  foster  these  impressions.  If  you  had 
not  your  place  to  make  in  the  warehouse,  if  you  had 
not  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing  to  do ;  if  you  had  not 
love  and  pleasure  and  ambition  and  advancement  and 


294  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

mental  culture  to  attend  to,  you  would  have  time  for 
religion ;  but  as  soon  as  the  seed  is  sown  and  the  sower's 
back  is  turned,  hovering  flocks  of  light-winged  thoughts 
and  vanities  pounce  down  upon  it  and  carry  it  away, 
seed  by  seed.  And  if  some  stray  seed  here  and  there 
remains  and  begins  to  sprout,  the  ill  weeds  which  grow 
apace  spring  up  with  ranker  stems  and  choke  it.  '  The 
cares  of  this  world,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and 
the  lusts  of  other  things  entering  in,  choke  the  word, 
and  efface  the  impression  made  upon  your  hearts. 

Here  as  I  speak  some  serious  thought  is  roused ;  by  to- 
morrow at  midday  it  has  all  gone.  You  did  not  intend 
it  to  go,  you  did  not  set  yourself  to  banish  it,  you 
simply  opened  the  door  to  the  flocking  in  of  the  whole 
crowd  of  the  world's  cares  and  occupations,  and  away 
went  the  shy,  solitary  thought  that,  if  it  had  been  cared 
for  and  tended,  might  have  led  you  at  last  to  the  Cross 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Do  not  allow  yourselves  to  be  drifted, 
by  the  rushing  current  of  earthly  cares,  from  the  im- 
pressions that  are  made  upon  your  consciences  and 
from  the  duty  that  you  know  you  ought  to  do  ! 

And  then  some  of  you  fall  into  this  attitude  of  delay, 
and  say  to  the  messenger  of  God's  love,  '  Go  thy  way 
for  this  time,'  because  you  do  not  like  to  give  up  some- 
thing that  you  know  is  inconsistent  with  His  love  and 
service.  Felix  would  not  part  with  Drusilla  nor  dis- 
gorge the  ill-gotten  gains  of  his  province.  Felix  there- 
fore was  obliged  to  put  away  from  him  the  thoughts 
that  looked  in  that  direction.  I  wonder  if  there  is  any 
young  man  listening  to  me  now  who  feels  that  if  he 
lets  my  words  carry  him  where  they  seek  to  carry  him, 
he  will  have  to  give  up  '  fleshly  lusts  which  war  against 
the  soul'?  I  wonder  if  there  is  any  young  woman 
listening  to  me  now  who  feels  that  if  she  lets  my 


V.  2r>]  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL  295 

words  carry  her  where  they  would  carry  her,  she  will 
have  to  live  a  different  life  from  that  which  she  has  been 
living,  to  have  more  of  a  high  and  a  noble  aim  in  it,  to 
live  for  something  else  than  pleasure?  I  wonder  if 
there  are  any  of  you  who  are  saying, '  I  cannot  give  up 
that'?  My  dear  young  friend,  'If  thine  eye  offend 
thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee.'  It  is  better  for 
thee  to  enter  into  life  blind  than  with  both  eyes  to  be 
cast  into  hell-fire. 

Reasons  for  delay,  then,  are  these :  first,  getting  rid 
of  an  unpleasant  subject;  second,  thinking  that  there 
is  time  enough ;  third,  letting  the  world  obliterate  the 
impressions  that  have  been  made ;  and  fourth,  shrink- 
ing from  the  surrender  of  something  that  you  know 
you  will  have  to  give  up. 

III.  And  now  let  me  very  briefly,  as  my  last  point, 
put  before  you  one  or  two  of  the  reasons  which  I  would 
fain  might  be  conclusive  with  you  for  present  decision 
to  take  Christ  for  your  Saviour  and  your  Master. 

And  I  say,  Do  not  delay,  but  now  choose  Him  for 
your  Redeemer,  your  Friend,  your  Helper,  your  Com- 
mander, your  All;  because  delay  is  really  decision  in  the 
wrong  way.  Do  not  delay,  but  take  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  Saviour  of  your  sinful  souls,  and  rest  your  hearts 
upon  Him  to-night  before  you  sleep  ;  because  there  is 
no  real  reason  for  delay.  No  season  will  be  more  con- 
venient than  the  present  season.  Every  time  is  the 
right  time  to  do  the  right  thing,  every  time  is  the  right 
time  to  begin  following  Him.  There  is  nothing  to  wait 
for.  There  is  no  reason  at  all,  except  their  own  dis- 
inclination, why  every  man  and  woman  listening  to 
me  should  not  now  grasp  the  Cross  of  Christ  as  their 
only  hope  for  forgiveness  and  acceptance,  and  yield 
themselves  to  that  Lord,  to  live  in  His  service  for  ever. 


296  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxiv. 

Let  not  this  day  pass  without  your  giving  yourselves 
to  Jesus  Christ,  because  every  time  that  you  have  this 
message  brought  to  you,  and  you  refuse  to  accept  it,  or 
delay  to  accept  it,  you  make  yourselves  less  capable  of 
receiving  it  another  time. 

If  you  take  a  bit  of  phosphorus  and  put  it  upon  a 
slip  of  wood  and  ignite  the  phosphorus,  bright  as  the 
blaze  is,  there  drops  from  it  a  white  ash  that  coats  the 
wood  and  makes  it  almost  incombustible.  And  so  when 
the  flaming  conviction  laid  upon  your  hearts  has  burnt 
itself  out,  it  has  coated  the  heart,  and  it  will  be  very 
difficult  to  kindle  the  light  there  again.  Felix  said,  '  Go 
thy  way,  when  I  have  a  more  convenient  season  I  will 
send  for  thee.'  Yes,  and  he  did  send  for  Paul,  and  he 
talked  with  him  often — he  repeated  the  conversation, 
but  we  do  not  know  that  he  repeated  the  trembling. 
He  often  communed  with  Paul,  but  it  was  only  once 
that  he  was  alarmed.  You  are  less  likely  to  be  touched 
by  the  Gospel  message  for  every  time  that  you  have 
heard  it  and  put  it  away.  That  is  what  makes  my 
place  here  so  terribly  responsible,  and  makes  me  feel 
that  my  words  are  so  very  feeble  in  comparison  with 
what  they  ought  to  be.  I  know  that  I  may  be  doing 
harm  to  men  just  because  they  listen  and  are  not 
persuaded,  and  so  go  away  less  and  less  likely  to  be 
touched. 

Ah,  dear  friends !  you  will  perhaps  never  again  have 
as  deep  impressions  as  you  have  now ;  or  at  least  they 
are  not  to  be  reckoned  upon  as  probable,  for  the 
tendency  of  all  truth  is  to  lose  its  power  by  repetition, 
and  the  tendency  of  all  emotion  which  is  not  acted 
upon  is  to  become  fainter  and  fainter.  And  so  I 
beseech  you  that  now  you  would  cherish  any  faint 
impression  that  is  being  made  upon  your  hearts  and 


V.25]  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL  297 

consciences.  Let  it  lead  you  to  Christ ;  and  take  Him 
for  your  Lord  and  Saviour  now. 

I  say  to  you :  Do  that  now  because  delay  robs  you 
of  large  blessing.  You  will  never  want  Jesus  Christ 
more  than  you  do  to-day.  You  need  Him  in  your 
early  hours.  Why  should  it  be  that  a  portion  of  your 
lives  should  be  left  unfilled  by  that  rich  mercy  ?  Why 
should  you  postpone  possessing  the  purest  joy,  the 
highest  blessing,  the  divinest  strength  ?  Why  should 
you  put  off  welcoming  your  best  Friend  into  your 
heart  ?    Why  should  you  ? 

I  say  to  you  again,  Take  Christ  for  your  Lord,  because 
delay  inevitably  lays  up  for  you  bitter  memories  and 
involves  dreadful  losses.  There  are  good  Christian 
men  and  women,  I  have  no  doubt,  in  this  world  now, 
who  would  give  all  they  have,  if  they  could  blot  out  of 
the  tablets  of  their  memories  some  past  hours  of  their 
lives,  before  they  gave  their  hearts  to  Jesus  Christ.  I 
would  have  you  ignorant  of  such  transgression.  O 
young  men  and  women !  if  you  grow  up  into  middle 
life  not  Christians,  then  should  you  ever  become  so, 
you  will  have  habits  to  fight  with,  and  remembrances 
that  will  smart  and  sting ;  and  some  of  you,  perhaps, 
remembrances  that  will  pollute,  even  though  you  are 
conscious  that  you  are  forgiven.  It  is  a  better  thing 
not  to  know  the  depths  of  evil  than  to  know  them  and 
to  have  been  raised  f  i  om  them.  You  will  escape  infinite 
sorrows  by  an  early  cleaving  to  Christ  your  Lord. 

And  last  of  all  I  say  to  you,  give  yourselves  now 
to  Jesus  Christ,  because  no  to-morrow  may  be  yours. 
Delay  is  gambling,  very  irrationally,  with  a  very  un- 
certain thing — your  life  and  your  future  opportunities. 
'  You  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow.' 

For  a  generation   I  have   preached  in  Manchester 


298  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

these  annual  sermons  to  the  young.  Ah,  how  many  of 
those  that  heard  the  early  ones  are  laid  in  their  graves ; 
and  how  many  of  them  were  laid  in  early  graves ;  and 
how  many  of  them  said,  as  some  of  you  are  saying, 
'When  I  get  older  I  will  turn  religious'!  And  they 
never  got  older.  It  is  a  commonplace  word  that,  but  I 
leave  it  on  your  hearts.    You  have  no  time  to  lose. 

Do  not  delay,  because  delay  is  decision  in  the  wrong 
way;  do  not  delay,  because  there  is  no  reason  for 
delay ;  do  not  delay,  because  delay  robs  you  of  a  large 
blessing ;  do  not  delay,  because  delay  lays  up  for  you, 
if  ever  you  come  back,  bitter  memories ;  do  not  delay, 
because  delay  may  end  in  death.  And  for  all  these 
reasons,  come  as  a  sinful  soul  to  Christ  the  Saviour; 
and  ask  Him  to  forgive  you,  and  follow  in  His  foot- 
steps, and  do  it  now!  'To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.' 


CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES 

•And  when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice  speaking  unto  me, 
and  saying  in  the  Hehrew  tongue,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me?  it  is  hard 
for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks.'— Acts  xxvi.  14. 

'  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard 
his  spots?'  No.  But  God  can  change  the  skin;  because 
He  can  change  the  nature.  In  this  story  of  the  con- 
version of  the  Apostle  Paul — the  most  important  thing 
that  happened  that  day — we  have  an  instance  how 
brambles  may  become  vines ;  tares  may  become  wheat ; 
and  a  hater  of  Jesus  Christ  may  be  changed  in  a 
moment  into  His  lover  and  servant,  and,  if  need  be, 
His  martyr. 

Now  the  very  same  motives  and  powers  which  were 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  Apostle  Paul  by  miracle  are 


v.u]       CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES        299 

being  brought  to  bear  upon  every  one  of  us ;  and  my 
object  now  is  just  to  trace  the  stages  of  the  process 
set  forth  here,  and  to  ask  some  of  you,  if  you,  like 
Paul,  have  been  'obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision.' 
Stages,  I  call  them,  though  they  were  all  crowded  into 
a  moment,  for  even  the  lightning  has  to  pass  through 
the  intef vening  space  when  it  flashes  from  one  side  of 
the  heavens  to  another,  and  we  may  divide  its  path 
into  periods.  Time  is  very  elastic,  as  any  of  us  whose 
lives  have  held  great  sorrows  or  great  joys  or  great 
resolutions  well  know. 

I.  The  first  of  these  all  but  simultaneous  and  yet 
separable  stages  was  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Of  course  to  the  Apostle  it  was  mediated  by 
miracle;  but  real  as  he  believed  that  appearance  of 
the  risen  Lord  in  the  heavens  to  be,  and  valid  as  he 
maintained  that  it  was  as  the  ground  of  his  Apostle- 
ship,  he  himself,  in  one  of  his  letters,  speaks  of  the 
whole  incident  as  being  the  revelation  of  God's  Son 
in  him.  The  revelation  in  heart  and  mind  was  the 
main  thing,  of  which  the  revelation  to  eye  and  ear 
were  but  means.  The  means,  in  his  case,  are  different 
from  those  in  ours ;  the  end  is  the  same.  To  Paul  it 
came  like  the  rush  of  a  cataract  that  the  Christ  whom 
he  had  thought  of  as  lying  in  an  unknown  grave  was 
living  in  the  heavens  and  ruling  there.  You  and  I,  I 
suppose,  do  not  need  to  be  convinced  by  miracle  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  the  bare  fact  that 
Jesus  was  living  in  the  heavens  would  have  had  little 
effect  upon  Saul,  unless  it  had  been  accompanied  with 
the  revelation  of  the  startling  fact  that  between  him 
and  Jesus  Christ  there  were  close  personal  relations, 
so  that  he  had  to  do  with  Jesus,  and  Jesus  with  him. 

*  Saul,  Saul !  why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? '    They  used 


300  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

to  think  that  they  could  wake  sleep-walkers  by  address- 
ing them  by  name.  Jesus  Christ,  by  speaking  His  name 
to  the  Apostle,  wakes  him  out  of  his  diseased  slumber, 
and  brings  him  to  wholesome  consciousness.  There 
are  stringency  and  solemnity  of  address  in  that  double 
use  of  the  name  '  Saul,  Saul ! ' 

What  does  such  an  address  teach  you  and  me  ?  That 
Jesus  Christ,  the  living,  reigning  Lord  of  the  universe, 
has  perfect  knowledge  of  each  of  us,  and  that  we  each 
stand  isolated  before  Him,  as  if  all  the  light  of  omni- 
science were  focussed  upon  us.  He  knows  our  char- 
acters; He  knows  all  about  us,  and  more  than  that, 
He  directly  addresses  Himself  to  each  man  and  woman 
among  us. 

We  are  far  too  apt  to  hide  ourselves  in  the  crowd, 
and  let  all  the  messages  of  God's  love,  the  warnings 
of  His  providences,  as  well  as  the  teachings  and  in- 
vitations and  pleadings  of  His  gospel,  fly  over  our 
heads  as  if  they  were  meant  vaguely  for  anybody. 
But  they  are  all  intended  for  thee,  as  directly  as  if 
thou,  and  thou  only,  wert  in  the  world.  I  beseech  you, 
lay  this  to  heart,  that  although  no  audible  sounds 
may  rend  the  silent  heavens,  nor  any  blaze  may  blind 
thine  eye,  yet  that  as  really,  though  not  in  the  same 
outward  fashion  as  Saul,  when  they  were  all  fallen 
to  the  earth,  felt  himself  to  be  singled  out,  and  heard  a 
voice  '  speaking  to  him  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  saying, 
Saul,  Saul!'  thou  mayest  hear  a  voice  speaking  to 
thee  in  the  English  tongue,  by  thy  name,  and  directly 
addressing  its  gracious  remonstrances  and  its  loving 
offers  to  thy  listening  ear.  I  want  to  sharpen  the 
blunt '  whosoever '  into  the  pointed  '  thou.'  And  I  would 
fain  plead  with  each  of  my  friends  hearing  me  now 
to  believe  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  meant  for 


V.  U]      CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES        301 

thee,  and  that  Christ  speaks  to  thee.  *  I  have  a  message 
from  God  unto  thee,'  just  as  Nathan  said  unto  David, 
'  Thou  art  the  man ! ' 

Do  not  lose  yourselves  in  the  crowd  or  hide  your- 
selves from  the  personal  incidence  of  Christ's  offer, 
but  feel  that  you  stand,  as  you  do  indeed,  alone  the 
hearer  of  His  voice,  the  possible  recipient  of  His  saving 
mercy. 

II.  Secondly,  notice,  as  another  stage  in  this  process, 
the  discovery  of  the  true  character  of  the  past. 

'Why  persecutest  thou  Me?'  Now  I  am  not  going 
to  be  tempted  from  my  more  direct  purpose  in  this 
sermon  to  dwell  even  for  a  moment  on  the  beautiful, 
affecting,  strengthening  thought  here,  of  the  unity  of 
Jesus  Christ  with  all  the  humble  souls  that  love  Him, 
so  as  that,  whatsoever  any  member  suffers,  the  Head 
suffers  with  it.    I  must  leave  that  truth  untouched. 

Saul  was  brought  to  look  at  all  his  past  life  as 
standing  in  immediate  connection  with  Jesus  Christ. 
Of  course  he  knew  before  the  vision  that  he  had  no 
love  to  Him  whom  he  thought  to  be  a  Galilean  im- 
postor, and  that  the  madness  with  which  he  hated  the 
servants  was  only  the  glancing  off  of  the  arrow  that 
he  would  fain  have  aimed  at  the  Master.  But  he  did 
not  know  that  Jesus  Christ  counted  every  blow  struck 
at  one  of  His  servants  as  being  struck  at  Him.  Above 
all  he  did  not  know  that  the  Christ  whom  he  was 
persecuting  was  reigning  in  the  heavens.  And  so  his 
whole  past  life  stood  before  him  in  a  new  aspect  when 
it  was  brought  into  close  connection  with  Christ,  and 

looked  at  as  in  relation  to  Him. 

.» 

The  same  process  would  yield  very  remarkable 
results  if  applied  to  our  lives.  If  I  could  only  get  you 
for  one  quiet  ten  minutes,  to  lay  all  your  past,  as  far 


302  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

as  memory  brought  it  to  your  minds,  right  before 
that  pure  and  loving  Face,  I  should  have  done  much. 
One  infallible  vray  of  judging  of  the  rottenness  or 
goodness  of  our  actions  is  that  we  should  bring  them 
where  they  will  all  be  brought  one  day,  into  the 
brightness  of  Christ's  countenance.  If  you  want  to 
find  out  the  flaws  in  some  thin,  badly-woven  piece  of 
cloth,  you  hold  it  up  against  the  light,  do  you  not? 
and  then  you  see  all  the  specks  and  holes,  and  the 
irregular  threads.  Hold  up  your  lives  in  like  fashion 
against  the  light,  and  I  shall  be  surprised  if  you  do 
not  find  enough  there  to  make  you  very  much  ashamed 
of  yourselves.  Were  you  ever  on  the  stage  of  a  theatre 
in  the  daytime?  Did  you  ever  see  what  miserable 
daubs  the  scenes  look,  and  how  seamy  it  all  is  when 
the  pitiless  sunshine  comes  in?  Let  that  great  light 
pour  on  your  life,  and  be  thankful  if  you  find  out  what 
a  daub  it  has  been,  whilst  yet  colours  and  brushes  and 
time  are  at  your  disposal,  and  you  may  paint  the 
future  fairer  than  the  past. 

Again,  this  revelation  of  Saul's  past  life  disclosed 
its  utter  unreasonableness.  That  one  question,  '  Why 
persecutest  thou  Me  ? '  pulverised  the  whole  thing.  It 
was  like  the  wondering  question  so  unanswerable  in 
the  Psalm,  *  Why  do  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  people 
imagine  a  vain  thing  ? '  If  you  take  into  account  what 
you  are,  and  where  you  stand,  you  can  find  no  reason, 
except  utterly  unreasonable  ones,  for  the  lives  that 
I  fear  some  of  us  are  living — lives  of  godlessness  and 
Christlessness.  There  is  nothing  in  all  the  world  a 
tithe  so  stupid  as  sin.  There  is  nothing  so  unreason- 
able, if  there  be  a  God  at  all,  and  if  we  depend  upon 
Him,  and  have  duties  to  Him,  as  the  lives  that  some 
of  you  are  living.     You  admit,  most  of  you,  that  there 


V.  14]      CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES        303 

is  such  a  God;  you  admit,  most  of  you,  that  you  do 
hang  upon  Him ;  you  admit,  in  theory,  that  you  ought 
to  love  and  serve  Him.  The  bulk  of  you  call  your- 
selves Christians.  That  is  to  say,  you  believe,  as  a 
piece  of  historical  fact,  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  came  into  this  world  and  died  for  men.  And, 
believing  that,  you  turn  your  back  on  Him,  and  neither 
love  nor  serve  nor  trust  Him  nor  turn  away  from 
your  iniquity.  Is  there  anything  outside  a  lunatic 
asylum  more  madlike  than  that?  'Why  persecutest 
thou?'  'And  he  was  speechless,'  for  no  answer 
was  possible.  Why  neglectest  thou  ?  Why  forgettest 
thou?  Why,  admitting  what  thou  dost,  art  thou  not 
an  out-and-out  Christian?  If  we  think  of  all  our 
obligations  and  relations,  and  the  facts  of  the  universe, 
we  come  back  to  the  old  saying,  *The  fear  of  the  Lord 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,'  and  any  man  who,  like 
many  of  my  hearers,  fails  to  give  his  heart  and  life 
to  Jesus  Christ  will  one  day  have  to  say,  'Behold,  I 
have  played  the  fool,  and  erred  exceedingly.'  Wake 
up,  my  brother,  to  apply  calm  reason  to  your  lives 
while  yet  there  is  time,  and  face  the  question.  Why 
dost  thou  stand  as  thou  dost  to  Jesus  Christ?  There 
is  nothing  sadder  than  the  small  share  that  deliberate 
reason  and  intelligent  choice  have  in  the  ordering  of 
most  men's  lives.  You  live  by  impulse,  by  habit,  by 
example,  by  constraint  of  the  outward  necessities  of 
your  position.  But  I  am  sure  that  there  are  many 
amongst  us  now  who  have  very  seldom,  if  ever,  sat 
down  and  said,  'Now  let  me  think,  until  I  get  to  the 
ultimate  grounds  of  the  course  of  life  that  I  am  pur- 
suing.' You  can  carry  on  the  questions  very  gaily  for 
a  step  or  two,  but  then  you  come  to  a  dead  pause. 
•What  do  I  do  so-and-so  for?'    'Because  I  like  it.' 


304  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

'Why  do  I  like  it?'  'Because  it  meets  my  needs,  or 
my  desires,  or  my  tastes,  or  my  intellect.'  Why  do  you 
make  the  meeting  of  your  needs,  or  your  desires,  or 
your  tastes,  or  your  intellect  your  sole  object  ?  Is  there 
any  answer  to  that  ?  The  Hindoos  say  that  the  world 
rests  upon  an  elephant,  and  the  elephant  rests  upon  a 
tortoise.  What  does  the  tortoise  rest  on?  Nothing! 
Then  that  is  what  the  world  and  the  elephant  rest 
on.  And  so,  though  you  may  go  bravely  through  the 
first  stages  of  the  examination,  when  you  come  to 
the  last  question  of  all,  you  will  find  out  that  your 
whole  scheme  of  life  is  built  upon  a  blunder ;  and  the 
blunder  is  this,  that  anybody  can  be  blessed  without 
God. 

Further,  this  disclosure  of  the  true  character  of 
his  life  revealed  to  Saul,  as  in  a  lightning  flash,  the 
ingratitude  of  it. 

'  Why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? '  That  was  as  much  as 
to  say,  '  What  have  I  done  to  merit  thy  hate  ?  What 
have  I  not  done  to  merit  rather  thy  love  ? '  Paul  did 
not  know  all  that  Jesus  Christ  had  done  for  him.  It 
took  him  a  lifetime  to  learn  a  little  of  it,  and  to  tell 
his  brethren  something  of  what  he  had  learned.  And 
he  has  been  learning  it  ever  since  that  day  when, 
outside  the  walls  of  Rome,  they  hacked  off  his  head. 
He  has  been  learning  more  and  more  of  what  Jesus 
Christ  has  done  for  him,  and  why  he  should  not  per- 
secute Him  but  love  Him. 

But  the  same  appeal  comes  to  each  of  us.  What 
has  Jesus  Christ  done  for  thee,  my  friend,  for  me,  for 
every  soul  of  man  ?  He  has  loved  me  better  than  His 
own  life.  He  has  given  Himself  for  me.  He  has 
lingered  beside  me,  seeking  to  draw  me  to  Himself, 
and  He  still  lingers.    And  this,  at  the  best,  tremulous 


V.  U]      CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES        305 

faith,  this,  at  the  warmest,  tepid  love,  this,  at  the 
completest,  imperfect  devotion  and  service,  are  all  that 
we  bring  to  Him;  and  some  of  us  do  not  bring  even 
these.  Some  of  us  have  never  known  what  it  was  to 
sacrifice  one  inclination  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  nor  to 
do  one  act  for  His  dear  love's  sake,  nor  to  lean  our 
weakness  upon  Him,  nor  to  turn  to  Him  and  say,  *I 
give  Thee  myself,  that  I  may  possess  Thee.'  'Do  ye 
thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people  and  unwise?' 
I  have  heard  of  wounded  soldiers  striking  with  their 
bayonets  at  the  ambulance  men  who  came  to  help 
them.  That  is  like  what  some  of  you  do  to  the  Lord 
who  died  for  your  healing,  and  comes  as  the  Physician, 
with  bandages  and  with  balm,  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted.   '  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? ' 

III.  Lastly,  we  have  here  a  warning  against  self- 
inflicted  wounds. 

That  second  clause  of  the  remonstrance  on  the  lips 
of  Christ  in  my  text  is,  according  to  the  true  reading, 
not  found  in  the  account  of  Paul's  conversion  in  the 
ninth  chapter  of  this  book.  My  text  is  from  Paul's 
own  story ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  he  adds 
this  eminently  pathetic  and  forcible  appeal  to  the 
shorter  account  given  by  the  writer  of  the  book.  It 
had  gone  deep  into  his  heart,  and  he  could  not  forget. 

The  metaphor  is  a  very  plain  one.  The  ox-goad 
was  a  formidable  weapon,  some  seven  or  eight  feet  in 
length,  shod  with  an  iron  point,  and  capable  of  being 
used  as  a  spear,  and  of  inflicting  deadly  wounds  at  a 
pinch.  Held  in  the  firm  hand  of  the  ploughman,  it 
presented  a  sharp  point  to  the  rebellious  animal  under 
the  yoke.  If  the  ox  had  readily  yielded  to  the  gentle 
prick,  given,  not  in  anger,  but  for  guidance,  it  had 
been  well.  But  if  it  liishes  out  with  its  hoofs  against 
VOL.  II  u 


306  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

the  point,  what  does  it  get  but  bleeding  flanks  ?  Paul 
had  been  striking  out  instead  of  obeying,  and  he  had 
won  by  it  only  bloody  hocks. 

There  are  two  truths  deducible  from  this  saying, 
which  may  have  been  a  proverb  in  common  use.  One 
is  the  utter  futility  of  lives  that  are  spent  in  opposing 
the  divine  will.  There  is  a  strong  current  running, 
and  if  you  try  to  go  against  it  you  will  only  be  swept 
away  by  it.  Think  of  some  little  fishing  coble  coming 
across  the  bow  of  a  great  ocean-going  steamer.  What 
will  be  the  end  of  that?  Think  of  a  pony-chaise 
jogging  up  the  line,  and  an  express  train  thundering 
down  it.  What  will  be  the  end  of  that?  Think  of 
a  man  lifting  himself  up  and  saying  to  God,  *I  will 
710^!'  when  God  says,  'Do  thou  this! '/or  *Be  thou 
this!'  What  will  be  the  end  of  that?  'The  world 
passeth  away,  and  the  lusts  thereof,  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  God  abideth  for  ever.'  'It  is  hard  for 
thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks' — hard  in  regard  to 
breaches  of  common  morality,  as  some  of  my  friends 
sitting  quietly  in  these  pews  very  well  know.  It  is 
hard  to  indulge  in  sensual  sin.  You  cannot  altogether 
dodge  what  people  call  the  'natural  consequences'; 
but  it  was  God  who  made  Nature ;  and  so  I  call  them 
God-inflicted  penalties.  It  is  hard  to  set  yourselves 
against  Christianity.  I  am  not  going  to  speak  of 
that  at  all  now,  only  when  we  think  of  the  expecta- 
tions of  victory  with  which  so  many  antagonists 
of  the  Cross  have  gaily  leaped  into  the  arena,  and  of 
how  the  foes  have  been  forgotten  and  there  stands 
the  Cross  still,  we  may  say  of  the  whole  crowd,  be- 
ginning with  the  earliest,  and  coming  down  to  the 
latest  brand-new  theory  that  is  going  to  explode 
Christianity — '  it  is  hard  to  kick  against  the  pricks.' 


v.u]      CHRIST'S  REMONSTRANCES        307 

Your  own  limbs  you  may  wound ;  you  will  not  do  the 
goad  much  harm. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  the  proverb  of  my  text, 
and  that  is  the  self-inflicted  harm  that  comes  from 
resisting  the  pricks  of  God's  rebukes  and  remon- 
strances, whether  inflicted  by  conscience  or  by  any 
other  means ;  including,  I  make  bold  to  say,  even 
such  poor  words  as  these  of  mine.  For  if  the  first 
little  prick  of  conscience,  a  warning  and  a  guide,  be 
neglected,  the  next  will  go  a  great  deal  deeper.  The 
voice  which,  before  you  do  the  wrong  thing,  says  to 
you,  'Do  not  do  it,'  in  tones  of  entreaty  and  remon- 
strance, speaks,  after  you  have  done  it,  more  severely 
and  more  bitterly.  The  Latin  word  remorse,  and  the 
old  English  name  for  conscience,  'again-bite' — which 
latter  is  a  translation  of  the  other — teach  us  the  same 
lesson,  that  the  gnawing  which  comes  after  wrong 
done  is  far  harder  to  bear  than  the  touch  that  should 
have  kept  us  from  the  evil.  The  stings  of  marine 
jelly-fish  will  burn  for  days  after,  if  you  wet  them. 
And  so  all  wrong-doing,  and  all  neglect  of  right-doing 
of  every  sort,  carries  with  it  a  subsequent  pain,  or 
else  the  wounded  limb  mortifies,  and  that  is  worse. 
There  is  no  pain  then;  it  would  be  better  if  there 
were.  There  is  such  a  possibility  as  to  have  gone  on 
so  obstinately  kicking  against  the  pricks  and  leaving 
the  wounds  so  unheeded,  as  that  they  mortify  and 
feeling  goes.  A  conscience  'seared  with  a  hot  iron'  is 
ten  times  more  dreadful  than  a  conscience  that  pains 
and  stings. 

So,  dear  brethren,  let  me  beseech  you  to  listen  to 
the  pitying  Christ,  who  says  to  us  each,  more  in 
sorrow  than  in  anger,  'It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  pricks.'    It  is  no  pleasure  to  Him  to  hold 


308  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

the  goad,  nor  that  we  should  wound  ourselves  upon 
it.  He  has  another  question  to  put  to  us,  with  another 
'why,'  'Why  should  ye  be  stricken  any  more?  Turn 
ye,  turn  ye ;  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ? ' 

There  is  another  metaphor  drawn  from  the  employ- 
ment of  oxen  which  we  may  set  side  by  side  with  this 
of  my  text :  '  Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls.'  The  yoke  accepted,  the  goad  is 
laid  aside;  and  repose  and  healing  from  its  wounds 
are  granted  to  us.  Dear  brethren,  if  you  will  listen  to 
the  Christ  revealed  in  the  heavens,  as  knowing  all 
about  you,  and  remonstrating  with  you  for  your  un- 
reasonableness and  ingratitude,  and  setting  before 
you  the  miseries  of  rebellion  and  the  suicide  of  sin, 
then  you  will  have  healing  for  all  your  wounds,  and 
your  lives  will  neither  be  self-tormenting,  futile,  nor 
unreasonable.  The  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ  lavished 
upon  you  makes  your  yielding  yourselves  to  Him  your 
only  rational  course.  Anything  else  is  folly  beyond 
comparison  and  harm  and  loss  beyond  count. 


FAITH  IN  CHRIST 

'.  .  .  Faith  that  is  in  Me.'— Acts  xxvi.  18. 

It  is  commonly  said,  and  so  far  as  the  fact  is  concerned, 
said  truly,  that  what  are  called  the  distinguishing 
doctrines  of  Christianity  are  rather  found  in  the 
Epistles  than  in  the  Gospels.  If  we  wish  the  clearest 
statements  of  the  nature  and  person  of  Christ,  we  turn 
to  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  If  we  wish  the 
fullest  dissertation  upon  Christ's  work  as  a  sacrifice, 
we  go  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.    If  we  seek  to 


V.18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  809 

prove  that  men  are  justified  by  faith,  and  not  by 
works,  it  is  to  the  Epistles  to  Romans  and  Galatians 
that  we  betake  ourselves,— to  the  writings  of  the 
servant  rather  than  the  words  of  the  Master.  Now 
this  fuller  development  of  Christian  doctrine  contained 
in  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  cannot  be  denied,  and 
need  not  be  wondered  at.  The  reasons  for  it  I  am  not 
going  to  enter  upon  at  present;  they  are  not  far  to 
seek.  Christ  came  not  to  speak  the  Gospel,  but  to  he 
the  Gospel.  But  then,  this  truth  of  a  fuller  develop- 
ment is  often  over-strained,  as  if  Christ  '  spake  nothing 
concerning  priesthood,'  sacrifices,  faith.  He  did  so 
speak  when  on  earth.  It  is  often  misused  by  being 
made  the  foundation  of  an  inference  unfavourable  to 
the  authority  of  the  Apostolic  teaching,  when  we  are 
told,  as  we  sometimes  are,  that  not  Paul  but  Jesus 
speaks  the  words  which  we  are  to  receive. 

Here  we  have  Christ  Himself  speaking  from  the 
heavens  to  Paul  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Apostle's 
course,  and  if  any  one  asks  us  where  did  Paul  get  the 
doctrines  which  he  preached,  the  answer  is.  Here,  on 
the  road  to  Damascus,  when  blind,  bleeding,  stunned, 
with  all  his  self-confidence  driven  out  of  him — with  all 
that  he  had  been  crushed  into  shivers — he  saw  his 
Lord,  and  heard  Him  speak.  These  words  spoken  then 
are  the  germ  of  all  Paul's  Epistles,  the  keynote  to 
which  all  his  writings  are  but  the  melody  that  follows, 
the  mighty  voice  of  which  all  his  teaching  is  but  the 
prolonged  echo.  *  Delivering  thee,'  says  Christ  to  him, 
'from  the  people,  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom 
now  I  send  thee,  to  open  their  eyes,  to  turn  them  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God;  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and 
inheritance  among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith 


310  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

that  is  in  Me.'  Now,  I  ask  you,  what  of  Paul's  Gospel 
is  not  here  ?  Man's  ruin,  man's  depravity  and  state  of 
darkness,  the  power  of  Satan,  the  sole  redemptive 
work  of  Christ,  justification  by  belief  in  that,  sanctifi- 
cation  coming  with  justification,  and  glory  and  rest 
and  heaven  at  last — there  they  all  are  in  the  very  first 
words  that  sounded  upon  the  quickened  ear  of  the 
blinded  man  when  he  turned  from  darkness  to  light. 

It  would  be  foolish,  of  course,  to  try  to  exhaust  such 
a  passage  as  this  in  a  sermon.  But  notice,  what  a  com- 
plete summary  of  Christian  truth  there  lies  in  that  one 
last  clause  of  the  verse,  'Inheritance  among  them 
which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  Me.'  Translate 
that  into  distinct  propositions,  and  they  are  these: 
Faith  refers  to  Christ ;  that  is  the  first  thing.  Holiness 
depends  on  faith;  that  is  the  next:  *  sanctified  by 
faith.'  Heaven  depends  on  holiness :  that  is  the  last : 
•  inheritance  among  them  w^iich  are  sanctified  by  faith 
that  is  in  Me.'    So  there  we  have  the  whole  gospel ! 

To  the  one  part  of  this  comprehensive  summary 
which  is  contained  in  my  text  I  desire  to  turn  now,  in 
hope  of  gathering  from  it  some  truths  as  to  that 
familiar  word  'faith'  which  may  be  of  use  to  us  all. 
The  expression  is  so  often  on  our  lips  that  it  has  come 
to  be  almost  meaningless  in  many  minds.  These  key- 
words of  Scripture  meet  the  same  fate  as  do  coins  that 
have  been  long  in  circulation.  They  pass  through  so 
many  fingers  that  the  inscriptions  get  worn  off  them. 
We  can  all  talk  about  faith  and  forgiveness  and  justi- 
fying and  sanctifying,  but  how  few  of  us  have  definite 
notions  as  to  what  these  words  that  come  so  easily 
from  our  lips  mean!  There  is  a  vast  deal  of  cloudy 
haze  in  the  minds  of  average  church  and  chapel  goers 
as  to  what  this  wonder-working  faith  may  really  be. 


V.  18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  311 

Perhaps  we  may  then  be  able  to  see  large  and  needful 
truths  gleaming  in  these  weighty  syllables  which  Christ 
Jesus  spoke  from  heaven  to  Paul,  '  faith  that  is  in  Me.' 

I.  In  the  first  place,  then,  the  object  of  faith  is  Christ. 

'  Faith  that  is  in  Me '  is  that  which  is  directed  towards 
Christ  as  its  object.  Christianity  is  not  merely  a  system 
of  truths  about  God,  nor  a  code  of  morality  deducible 
from  these.  In  its  character  of  a  revelation,  it  is  the 
revelation  of  God  in  the  person  of  His  Son.  Christian- 
ity in  the  soul  is  not  the  belief  of  these  truths  about 
God,  still  less  the  acceptance  and  practice  of  these  pure 
ethics,  but  the  affiance  and  the  confidence  of  the  whole 
spirit  fixed  upon  the  redeeming,  revealing  Christ. 

True,  the  object  of  our  faith  is  Christ  as  made  known 
to  us  in  the  facts  of  His  recorded  life  and  the  teaching 
of  His  Apostles.  True,  our  only  means  of  knowing 
Him  as  of  any  other  person  whom  we  have  never  seen, 
are  the  descriptions  of  Him,  His  character  and  work, 
which  are  given.  True,  the  empty  name  'Christ'  has 
to  be  filled  with  the  doctrinal  and  biographical  state- 
ments of  Scripture  before  the  Person  on  whom  faith  is 
to  fix  can  be  apprehended  or  beheld.  True,  it  is  Christ 
as  He  is  made  known  to  us  in  Ahe  word  of  God,  the 
Incarnate  Son,  the  perfect  Man,  the  atoning  Sacrifice, 
the  risen  Lord,  the  ascended  Intercessor  in  whom  we 
have  to  trust.  The  characteristics  and  attributes  of 
Christ  are  known  to  us  only  by  biographical  statements 
and  by  doctrinal  propositions.  These  must  be  under- 
stood in  some  measure  and  accepted,  ere  there  can  be 
faith  in  Him.  Apart  from  them,  the  image  of  Christ 
must  stand  a  pale,  colourless  phantom  before  the  mind, 
and  the  faith  which  is  directed  towards  such  a  nebula 
will  be  an  unintelligent  emotion,  as  nebulous  and 
impotent  as  the  vagueness  towards  which  it  turns. 


812  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  attempt  which  is  sometimes  made 
to  establish  a  Christianity  without  doctrines  on  the 
plea  that  the  object  of  faith  is  not  a  proposition,  but  a 
person,  must  be  regarded  as  nugatory;  for  how  can 
the  '  person '  be  an  object  of  thought  at  all,  but  through 
the  despised  ' propositions'  ? 

But  while  on  the  one  hand  it  is  true  that  Christ  as 
revealed  in  these  doctrinal  statements  of  Scripture, 
the  divine  human  Saviour,  is  the  Object  of  faith,  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  it  is 
He,  and  not  the  statements  about  Him,  who  is  the 
Object. 

Look  at  His  own  words.  He  does  not  merely  say  to 
us,  '  Believe  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing  about  Me ; 
put  your  credence  in  this  and  the  other  doctrine ;  accept 
this  and  the  other  promise ;  hope  for  this  and  the  other 
future  thing.'  All  these  come  with  but  are  not  the 
central  act.  He  says,  '  Believe :  believe  in  Me !  "  / 
am  the  Way,  and  the  Truth,  and  the  Life":  He  that 
Cometh  to  Me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth 
in  Me  shall  never  thirst.'  Do  we  rightly  appreciate 
that  ?  I  think  that  if  people  firmly  grasped  this  truth 
— that  Christ  is  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  Object  of  faith 
is  not  simply  the  truths  that  are  recorded  here  in  the 
word,  but  He  with  regard  to  whom  these  truths  are 
recorded— it  would  clear  away  rolling  wreaths  of  fog 
and  mist  from  their  perceptions.  The  whole  feeling 
and  attitude  of  a  man's  mind  is  different,  according  as 
he  is  trusting  a  person,  or  according  as  he  is  believ- 
ing something  about  a  person.  And  this,  therefore, 
is  the  first  broad  truth  that  lies  here.  Faith  has 
reference  not  merely  to  a  doctrine,  not  to  a  system; 
but  deeper  than  all  these,  to  a  living  Lord — '  faith  that 
is  in  Me* 


V.  18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  313 

I  cannot  help  observing,  before  I  go  on — though  it 
may  be  somewhat  of  a  digression — what  a  strong 
inference  with  regard  to  the  divinity  of  Christ  is 
deducible  from  this  first  thought  that  He  is  the  Object 
to  whom  faith  has  reference.  If  you  look  into  the  Old 
Testament,  you  will  find  constantly,  'Trust  ye  in  the 
Lord  for  ever';  *Put  thy  trust  in  Jehovah!'  There, 
too,  though  under  the  form  of  the  Law,  there,  too,  faith 
was  the  seed  and  germ  of  all  religion.  There,  too, 
though  under  the  hard  husk  of  apparently  external 
obedience  and  ceremonial  sacrifices,  the  just  lived  by 
faith.  Its  object  was  the  Jehovah  of  that  ancient 
covenant.  Religion  has  always  been  the  same  in  every 
dispensation.  At  every  time,  that  which  made  a  man 
a  devout  man  has  been  identically  the  same  thing.  It 
has  always  been  true  that  it  has  been  faith  which  has 
bound  man  to  God,  and  given  man  hope.  But  when 
we  come  to  the  New  Testament,  the  centre  is  shifted, 
as  it  would  seem.  What  has  become  of  the  grand  old 
words,  '  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  Jehovah '  ?  Look  !  Christ 
stands  there,  and  says, '  Believe  upon  Me ' !  "With  calm, 
simple,  profound  dignity,  He  lays  His  hand  upon  all  the 
ancient  and  consecrated  words,  upon  all  the  ancient  and 
hallowed  emotions  that  used  to  set  towards  the  unseen 
God  between  the  cherubim,  throned  above  judgment 
and  resting  upon  mercy ;  and  He  says, '  They  are  Mine 
— give  them  to  Me!  That  ancient  trust,  I  claim  the 
right  to  have  it.  That  old  obedience,  it  belongs  to  Me. 
I  am  He  to  whom  in  all  time  the  loving  hearts  of  them 
that  loved  God,  have  set.  I  am  the  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  in  whom  whoever  trusteth  shall  never  be 
confounded.'  And  I  ask  you  just  to  take  that  one 
simple  fact,  that  Christ  thus  steps,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment— in  so    far    as    the   direction    of   the    religious 


314  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

emotions  of  faith  and  love  are  concerned — that  Christ 
steps  into  the  place  filled  by  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old ; 
and  ask  yourselves  honestly  w^hat  theory  of  Christ's 
nature  and  person  and  work  explains  that  fact,  and 
saves  Him  from  the  charge  of  folly  and  blasphemy  ? 
*  He  that  believeth  upon  Me  shall  never  hunger.'  Ah, 
my  brother !  He  was  no  mere  man  who  said  that.  He 
that  spake  from  out  of  the  cloud  to  the  Apostle  on  the 
road  to  Damascus,  and  said,  '  Sanctified  by  faith  that  is 
in  Me,'  was  no  mere  Tnan.  Christ  was  our  brother 
and  a  man,  but  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  the  divine 
Redeemer.  The  Object  of  faith  is  Christ ;  and  as  Object 
of  faith  He  must  needs  be  divine. 

II.  And  now,  secondly,  closely  connected  with  and 
springing  from  this  thought  as  to  the  true  object  of 
faith,  arises  the  consideration  as  to  the  nature  and  the 
essence  of  the  act  of  faith  itself. 

Whom  we  are  to  trust  in  we  have  seen :  what  it  is  to 
have  faith  may  be  very  briefly  stated.  If  the  Object 
of  faith  were  certain  truths,  the  assent  of  the  under- 
standing would  be  enough.  If  the  Object  of  faith  were 
unseen  things,  the  confident  persuasion  of  them  would 
be  sufficient.  If  the  Object  of  faith  were  promises  of 
future  good,  the  hope  rising  to  certainty  of  the  posses- 
sion of  these  would  be  sufficient.  But  if  the  Object  be 
more  than  truths,  more  than  unseen  realities,  more 
than  promises ;  if  the  Object  be  a  living  Person, — then 
there  follows  inevitably  this,  that  faith  is  not  merely 
the  assent  of  the  understanding,  that  faith  is  not 
merely  the  persuasion  of  the  reality  of  unseen  things, 
that  faith  is  not  merely  the  confident  expectation  of 
future  good;  but  that  faith  is  the  personal  relation 
of  him  who  has  it  to  the  living  Person  its  Object,— 
the  relation  which  is  expressed  not  more  clearly,  but 


V.18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  315 

perhaps  a  little  more  forcibly  to   us,  by  substituting 
another  word,  and  saying,  Faith  is  trust. 

And  I  think  that  there  again,  by  laying  hold  of  that 
simple  principle.  Because  Christ  is  the  Object  of  Faith, 
therefore  Faith  must  be  trust,  we  get  bright  and 
beautiful  light  upon  the  grandest  truths  of  the  Gospel 
of  God.  If  we  will  only  take  that  as  our  explanation, 
we  have  not  indeed  defined  faith  by  substituting  the 
other  word  for  it,  but  we  have  made  it  a  little  more 
clear  to  our  apprehensions,  by  using  a  non-theological 
word  with  which  our  daily  acts  teach  us  to  connect  an 
intelligible  meaning.  If  we  will  only  take  that  as  our 
explanation,  how  simple,  how  grand,  how  familiar  too 
it  sounds, — to  trust  Him !  It  is  the  very  same  kind  of 
feeling,  though  different  in  degree,  and  glorified  by  the 
majesty  and  glory  of  its  Object,  as  that  which  we  all 
know  how  to  put  forth  in  our  relations  with  one  another. 
We  trust  each  other.  That  is  faith.  We  have  con- 
fidence in  the  love  that  has  been  around  us,  breathing 
benedictions  and  bringing  blessings  ever  since  we  were 
little  children.  When  the  child  looks  up  into  the 
mother's  face,  the  symbol  to  it  of  all  protection,  or 
into  the  father's  eye,  the  symbol  to  it  of  all  authority, 
— that  emotion  by  which  the  little  one  hangs  upon  the 
loving  hand  and  trusts  the  loving  heart  that  towers 
above  it  in  order  to  bend  over  it  and  scatter  good,  is 
the  same  as  the  one  which,  glorified  and  made  divine, 
rises  strong  and  immortal  in  its  power,  when  fixed  and 
fastened  on  Christ,  and  saves  the  soul.  The  Gospel 
rests  upon  a  mystery,  but  the  practical  part  of  it  is  no 
mystery.  When  we  come  and  preach  to  you,  '  Trust  in 
Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,'  we  are  not  asking  you 
to  put  into  exercise  some  mysterious  power.  We  are 
only  asking  you  to  give  to  Him  that  which  you  give  to 


316  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

others,  to  transfer  the  old  emotions,  the  blessed 
emotions,  the  exercise  of  which  makes  gladness  in  life 
here  below,  to  transfer  them  to  Him,  and  to  rest  safe 
in  the  Lord.  Faith  is  trust.  The  living  Person  as  its 
Object  rises  before  us  there,  in  His  majesty,  in  His 
power,  in  His  gentleness,  and  He  says,  •  I  shall  be 
contented  if  thou  wilt  give  to  Me  these  emotions  which 
thou  dost  fix  now,  to  thy  death  and  loss,  on  the 
creatures  of  a  day.'  Faith  is  mighty,  divine,  the  gift  of 
God ;  but  Oh  !  it  is  the  exercise  of  a  familiar  habit,  only 
fixed  upon  a  divine  and  eternal  Person. 

And  if  this  be  the  very  heart  and  kernel  of  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  faith — that  it  is  simple  personal 
trust  in  Jesus  Christ ;  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  how  all 
the  subsidiary  meanings  and  uses  of  the  word  flow  out 
of  that,  whilst  it  cannot  be  explained  by  any  of  them. 
People  are  in  the  habit  of  setting  up  antitheses  betwixt 
faith  and  reason,  betwixt  faith  and  sight,  betwixt  faith 
and  possession.  They  say,  '  We  do  not  know,  we  must 
believe ' ;  they  say,  '  We  do  not  see,  we  must  have  faith  ' ; 
they  say,  'We  do  not  possess,  we  must  trust.'  Now 
faith — the  trust  in  Christ — the  simple  personal  relation 
of  confidence  in  Him — that  lies  beneath  all  these  other 
meanings  of  the  word.  For  instance,  faith  is,  in  one 
sense,  the  opposite  and  antithesis  of  sight;  because 
Christ,  unseen,  having  gone  into  the  unseen  world,  the 
confidence  which  is  directed  towards  Him  must  needs 
pass  out  beyond  the  region  of  sense,  and  fix  upon  the 
immortal  verities  that  are  veiled  by  excess  of  light  at 
God's  right  hand.  Faith  is  the  opposite  of  sight ;  inas- 
much as  Christ,  having  given  us  assurance  of  an 
unseen  and  everlasting  world,  we,  trusting  in  Him, 
believe  what  He  says  to  us,  and  arc  persuaded  and 
know  that  there  are  things  yonder  which  we  have 


V.18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  817 

never  seen  with  the  eye  nor  handled  with  the  hand. 
Similarly,  faith  is  the  completion  of  reason;  because, 
trusting  Christ,  we  believe  what  He  says,  and  He  has 
spoken  to  us  truths  which  we  in  ourselves  are  unable 
to  discover,  but  which,  when  revealed,  we  accept  on 
the  faith  of  His  truthfulness,  and  because  we  rely  upon 
Him.  Similarly,  faith  is  contrasted  with  present 
possession,  because  Christ  has  promised  us  future 
blessings  and  future  glories ;  and  having  confidence  in 
the  Person,  we  believe  what  He  says,  and  know  that  we 
shall  possess  them.  But  the  root  from  which  spring 
the  power  of  faith  as  the  opposite  of  sight,  the  power  of 
faith  as  the  telescope  of  reason,  the  power  of  faith  as  the 
*  confidence  of  things  not  possessed,'  is  the  deeper  thing 
— faith  in  the  Person,  which  leads  us  to  believe  Him 
whether  He  promises,  reveals,  or  commands,  and  to 
take  His  words  as  verity  because  He  is  '  the  Truth.' 

And  then,  again,  if  this,  the  personal  trust  in  Christ 
as  our  living  Redeemer — if  this  be  faith,  then  there 
come  also,  closely  connected  with  it,  certain  other 
emotions  or  feelings  in  the  heart.  For  instance,  if  I 
am  trusting  to  Christ,  there  is  inseparably  linked  with 
it  self-distrust.  There  are  two  sides  to  the  emotion; 
where  there  is  reliance  upon  another,  there  must  needs 
be  non-reliance  upon  self.  Take  an  illustration.  There 
is  the  tree  :  the  trunk  goes  upward  from  the  little  seed, 
rises  into  the  light,  gets  the  sunshine  upon  it,  and  has 
leaves  and  fruit.  That  is  the  upward  tendency  of  faith 
—trust  in  Christ.  There  is  the  root,  down  deep,  buried, 
dark,  unseen.  Both  are  springing,  but  springing  in 
opposite  directions,  from  the  one  seed.  That  is,  as  it 
were,  the  negative  side,  the  downward  tendency — self- 
distrust.  The  two  things  go  together — the  positive 
reliance  upon  another,  the  negative  distrust  of  myself. 


318  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

There  must  be  deep  consciousness  not  only  of  my  own 
impotence,  but  of  my  own  sinfulness.  The  heart  must 
be  emptied  that  the  seed  of  faith  may  grow ;  but  the 
entrance  in  of  faith  is  itself  the  means  for  the  empty- 
ing of  the  heart.  The  two  things  co-exist ;  we  can 
divide  them  in  thought.  We  can  wrangle  and  squabble, 
as  divided  sects  have  done,  about  which  comes  first, 
the  fact  being,  that  though  you  can  part  them  in 
thought,  you  cannot  part  them  in  experience,  inas- 
much as  they  are  but  the  obverse  and  the  reverse,  the 
two  sides  of  the  same  coin.  Faith  and  repentance 
— faith  and  self-distrust — they  are  done  in  one  and  the 
same  indissoluble  act. 

And  again,  faith,  as  thus  conceived  of,  will  obviously 
have  for  its  certain  and  immediate  consequence,  love. 
Nay,  the  two  emotions  will  be  inseparable  and  practi- 
cally co-existent.  In  thought  we  can  separate  them. 
Logically,  faith  comes  first,  and  love  next,  but  in  life 
they  will  spring  up  together.  The  question  of  their  order 
of  existence  is  an  of  ten- trod  battle-ground  of  theology, 
all  strewed  with  the  relics  of  former  fights.  But  in  the 
real  history  of  the  growth  of  religious  emotions  in  the 
soul,  the  interval  which  separates  them  is  impalpable, 
and  in  every  act  of  trust,  love  is  present,  and  funda- 
mental to  every  emotion  of  love  to  Christ  is  trust  in 
Christ. 

But  without  further  reference  to  such  matters,  here 
is  the  broad  principle  of  our  text.  Trust  in  Christ,  not 
mere  assent  to  a  principle,  personal  dependence  upon 
Him  revealed  as  the  '  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world,'  an  act  of  the  will  as  well  as  of  the 
understanding,  and  essentially  an  act  of  the  will  and 
not  of  the  understanding — that  is  the  thing  by  which  a 
soul  is  saved.    And  much  of  the  mist  and  confusion 


V.18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  319 

about  saving  faith,  and  non-saving  faith,  might  be 
lifted  and  dispersed  if  we  once  fully  apprehended  and 
firmly  held  by  the  divine  simplicity  of  the  truth,  that 
faith  is  trust  in  Jesus  Christ. 

III.  Once  more :  from  this  general  definition  there 
follows,  in  the  third  place,  an  explanation  of  the  power 
of  faith. 

'  We  are  justified,'  says  the  Bible,  •  by  faith.'  If  a  man 
believes,  he  is  saved.  Why  so?  Not,  as  some  people 
sometimes  seem  to  fancy,  as  if  in  faith  itself  there 
was  any  merit.  There  is  a  very  strange  and  subtle 
resurrection  of  the  whole  doctrine  of  works  in  reference 
to  this  matter ;  and  we  often  hear  belief  in  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  spoken  about  as  if  it,  the  work  of  the  man 
believing,  was,  in  a  certain  way  and  to  some  extent, 
that  which  God  rewarded  by  giving  him  salvation. 
What  is  that  but  the  whole  doctrine  of  works  come 
up  again  in  a  new  form?  What  difference  is  there 
between  what  a  man  does  with  his  hands  and  what  a 
man  feels  in  his  heart  ?  If  the  one  merit  salvation, 
or  if  the  other  merit  salvation,  equally  we  are 
shut  up  to  this, — Men  get  heaven  by  what  they 
do;  and  it  does  not  matter  a  bit  what  they  do  it 
with,  whether  it  be  body  or  soul.  When  we  say 
we  are  saved  by  faith,  we  mean  accurately,  through 
faith.  It  is  God  that  saves.  It  is  Christ's  life,  Christ's 
blood,  Christ's  sacrifice,  Christ's  intercession,  that  saves. 
Faith  is  simply  the  channel  through  which  there  flows 
over  into  my  emptiness  the  divine  fulness ;  or,  to  use 
the  good  old  illustration,  it  is  the  hand  which  is  held 
up  to  receive  the  benefit  which  Christ  lays  in  it.  A 
living  trust  in  Jesus  has  power  unto  salvation,  only 
because  it  is  the  means  by  which  'the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation '  may  come  into  my  heart.    On  one  side 


320  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

is  the  great  ocean  of  Christ's  love,  Christ's  abundance, 
Christ's  merits,  Christ's  righteousness ;  or,  rather,  there 
is  the  great  ocean  of  Christ  Himself,  which  includes 
them  all ;  and  on  the  other  is  the  empty  vessel  of  my 
soul — and  the  little  narrow  pipe  that  has  nothing  to  do 
but  to  bring  across  the  refreshing  water,  is  the  act  of 
faith  in  Him.  There  is  no  merit  in  the  dead  lead,  no 
virtue  in  the  mere  emotion.  It  is  not  faith  that  saves 
us ;  it  is  Christ  that  saves  us,  and  saves  us  through  faith. 

And  now,  lastly,  these  principles  likewise  help  us  to 
understand  wherein  consists  the  guilt  and  criminality  of 
unbelief.  People  are  sometimes  disposed  to  fancy  that 
God  has  arbitrarily  selected  this  one  thing,  believing 
in  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  means  of  salvation,  and  do  not 
distinctly  see  why  and  how  non-belief  is  so  desperate 
and  criminal  a  thing.  I  think  that  the  principles  that 
I  have  been  trying  feebly  to  work  out  now,  help  us  to 
see  how  faith  is  not  arbitrarily  selected  as  the  instru- 
ment and  means  of  our  salvation.  There  is  no  other 
way  of  effecting  it.  God  could  not  save  us  in  any 
other  way  than  that,  salvation  being  provided,  the  con- 
dition of  receiving  it  should  be  trust  in  His  Son. 

And  next  they  show  where  the  guilt  of  unbelief  lies. 
Faith  is  not  first  and  principally  an  act  of  the  under- 
standing; it  is  not  the  mere  assent  to  certain  truths. 
I  believe,  for  my  part,  that  men  are  responsible  even 
for  their  intellectual  processes,  and  for  the  beliefs 
at  which  they  arrive  by  the  working  of  these ;  and  I 
think  it  is  a  very  shallow  philosophy  that  stands  up 
and  says — (it  is  almost  exploded  now,  and  perhaps  not 
needful  even  to  mention  it) — that  men  are  *no  more 
responsible  for  their  belief  than  they  are  for  the  colour 
of  their  hair.'  Why,  if  faith  were  no  more  than  an 
intellectual  process,  it  would  still  be  true  that  they  are 


V.  18]  FAITH  IN  CHRIST  321 

responsible  for  it ;  but  the  faith  that  saves  a  man,  and 
unbelief  that  ruins  a  man,  are  not  processes  of  the 
understanding  alone.  It  is  the  will,  the  heart,  the 
whole  moral  being,  that  is  concerned.  Why  does  any- 
one not  trust  Jesus  Christ?  For  one  reason  only: 
because  he  will  not.  Why  has  any  one  not  faith  in  the 
Lamb  of  God?  Because  his  whole  nature  is  turning 
away  from  that  divine  and  loving  Face,  and  is  setting 
itself  in  rebellion  against  it.  Why  does  any  one  refuse 
to  believe?  Because  he  has  confidence  in  himself; 
because  he  has  not  a  sense  of  his  sins ;  because  he 
has  not  love  in  his  heart  to  his  Lord  and  Saviour. 
Men  are  responsible  for  unbelief.  Unbelief  is  criminal, 
because  it  is  a  moral  act — an  act  of  the  whole  nature. 
Belief  or  unbelief  is  the  test  of  a  man's  whole  spiritual 
condition,  just  because  it  is  the  whole  being,  affections, 
will,  conscience  and  all,  as  well  as  the  understanding, 
which  are  concerned  in  it.  And  therefore  Christ,  who 
says,  '  Sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  Me,'  says  likewise, 
'  He  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  condemned.' 

And  now,  brethren,  take  this  one  conviction  into 
your  hearts,  that  what  makes  a  man  a  Christian — what 
saves  my  soul  and  yours — what  brings  the  love  of 
Christ  into  any  life,  and  makes  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  a 
power  to  pardon  and  purify, — that  that  is  not  merely 
believing  this  Book,  not  merely  understanding  the 
doctrines  that  are  there,  but  a  far  more  profound 
act  than  that.  It  is  the  casting  of  myself  upon  Him- 
self, the  bending  of  my  willing  heart  to  His  loving 
Spirit;  the  close  contact,  heart  to  heart,  soul  to  soul, 
will  to  will,  of  my  emptiness  with  His  fulness,  of  my 
sinfulness  with  His  righteousness,  of  my  death  with 
His  life :  that  I  may  live  by  Him,  be  sanctified  by  Him, 
be  saved  by  Him,  *  with  an  everlasting  salvation.'  Faith 
VOL.  II.  X 


^22  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

is  trust :  Christ  is  the  Object  of  faith.  Faith  is  the  con- 
dition of  salvation;  and  unbelief  is  your  fault,  your 
loss — the  crime  which  ruins  men's  souls  ! 


'BEFORE  GOVERNORS  AND  KINGS' 

'  Whereupon,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision  : 
20.  But  shewed  first  unto  them  of  Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout 
all  the  coasts  of  Judsea,  and  then  to  the  Gentiles,  that  they  should  repent  and 
turn  to  God,  and  do  works  meet  for  repentance.  21.  For  these  causes  the  Jews 
caught  me  in  the  temple,  and  went  about  to  kill  me.  22.  Having  therefore 
obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this  day,  witnessing  both  to  small  and 
great,  saying  none  other  things  than  those  which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did 
say  should  come ;  23.  That  Christ  should  suffer,  and  that  He  should  be  the  first 
that  should  i-ise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the  people,  and  to 
the  Gentiles.  24.  And  as  he  thus  spake  for  himself,  Festus  said  with  a  loud  voice, 
Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself ;  much  learning  doth  make  thee  mad.  25.  But  he 
said,  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus ;  but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and 
soberness.  26.  For  the  king  knoweth  of  these  things,  before  whom  also  I  speak 
freely :  for  I  am  persuaded  that  none  of  these  things  are  hidden  from  him ;  for 
this  thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner.  27.  King  Agrippa,  believest  thou  the 
prophets?  1  know  that  thou  believest.  28.  Then  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  Almost 
thou  persuadcst  me  to  be  a  Christian.  29.  And  Paul  said,  I  would  to  God,  that 
not  only  thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  were  both  almost  and  altogether 
such  as  1  am,  except  these  bonds.  30.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  the  king 
rose  up,  and  the  governor,  and  Bernice,  and  they  that  sat  with  them :  31.  And 
waun  they  were  gone  aside,  they  talked  between  themselves,  saying,  This  man 
do3th  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds.  32.  Then  said  Agrippa  unto  Festus, 
This  man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not  appealed  unto  Caesar.'— 
Acts  xxvi.  19-32. 

Festus  was  no  model  of  a  righteous  judge,  but  he  had 
got  hold  of  the  truth  as  to  Paul,  and  saw  that  what 
he  contemptuously  called  'certain  questions  of  their 
own  superstition,'  and  especially  his  assertion  of  the 
Resurrection,  were  the  real  crimes  of  the  Apostle  in 
Jewish  eyes.  But  the  fatal  wish  to  curry  favour 
warped  his  course,  and  led  him  to  propose  a  removal 
of  the  'venue'  to  Jerusalem.  Paul  knew  that  to 
return  thither  would  seal  his  death-warrant,  and  was 
therefore  driven  to  appeal  to  Rome. 

That  took  the  case  out  of  Festus's  jurisdiction.  So 
that  the  hearing  before  Agrippa  was  an  entertainment, 
got  up  for  the  king's  diversion,  when  other  amusements 
had  been  exhausted,  rather  than  a   regular  judicial 


vs.  19-32]  'GOVERNORS  AND  KINGS'        323 

proceeding.  Paul  was  examined  '  to  make  a  Roman 
holiday.'  Festus's  speech  (chap.  xxv.  24-27)  tries  to 
put  on  a  colour  of  desire  to  ascertain  more  clearly  the 
charges,  but  that  is  a  very  thin  pretext.  Agrippa  had 
said  that  he  would  like  *  to  hear  the  man,'  and  so  the 
performance  was  got  up  'by  request.'  Not  a  very 
sympathetic  audience  fronted  Paul  that  day.  A  king 
and  his  sister,  a  Roman  governor,  and  all  the  elite  of 
Csesarean  society,  ready  to  take  their  cue  from  the 
faces  of  these  three,  did  not  daunt  Paul.  The  man 
who  had  seen  Jesus  on  the  Damascus  road  could  face 
'  small  and  great.' 

The  portion  of  his  address  included  in  the  passage 
touches  substantially  the  same  points  as  did  his 
previous  'apologies.'  We  may  note  how  strongly  he 
puts  the  force  that  impelled  him  on  his  course,  and 
lays  bare  the  secret  of  his  life.  '  I  was  not  disobedient 
to  the  heavenly  vision';  then  the  possibility  of  dis- 
obedience was  open  after  he  had  heard  Christ  ask, 
'  Why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? '  and  had  received  com- 
mands from  His  mouth.  Then,  too,  the  essential 
character  of  the  charge  against  him  was  that,  instead 
of  kicking  against  the  owner's  goad,  he  had  bowed  his 
neck  to  his  yoke,  and  that  his  obstinate  will  had 
melted.  Then,  too,  the  'light  above  the  brightness 
of  the  sun'  still  shone  round  him,  and  his  whole  life 
was  one  long  act  of  obedience. 

We  note  also  how  he  sums  up  his  work  in  verse  20, 
representing  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles  as  but  the  last 
term  in  a  continuous  widening  of  his  field,  from 
Damascus  to  Jerusalem,  from  Jerusalem  to  Judaea  (a 
phase  of  his  activity  not  otherwise  known  to  us,  and 
for  which,  with  our  present  records,  it  is  difficult  to 
find  a  place),  from  Judaea  to  the  Gentiles.    Step  by  step 


324  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

he  had  been  led  afield,  and  at  each  step  the  '  heavenly 
vision '  had  shone  before  him. 

How  superbly,  too,  Paul  overleaps  the  distinction  of 
Jew  and  Gentile,  which  disappeared  to  him  in  the 
unity  of  the  broad  message,  which  was  the  same  to 
every  man.  Repentance,  turning  to  God,  works 
worthy  of  repentance,  are  as  needful  for  Jew  as  for 
Gentile,  and  as  open  to  Gentile  as  to  Jew.  What  but 
universal  can  such  a  message  be  ?  To  limit  it  would 
be  to  mutilate  it. 

We  note,  too,  the  calmness  with  which  he  lays  his 
finger  on  the  real  cause  of  Jewish  hate,  which  Festus 
had  already  found  out.  He  does  not  condescend  to 
rebut  the  charge  of  treason,  which  he  had  already  re- 
pelled, and  which  nobody  in  his  audience  believed.  He 
is  neither  afraid  nor  angry,  as  he  quietly  points  to  the 
deadly  malice  which  had  no  ground  but  his  message. 

We  further  note  the  triumphant  confidence  in  God 
and  assurance  of  His  help  in  all  the  past,  so  that,  like 
some  strong  tower  after  the  most  crashing  blows  of 
the  battering-ram,  he  still  'stands.'  'His  steps  had 
wellnigh  slipped,'  when  foe  after  foe  stormed  against 
him,  but '  Thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  held  me  up.' 

Finally,  Paul  gathers  himself  together,  to  leave  as  his 
last  word  the  mighty  sentence  in  which  he  condenses 
his  whole  teaching,  in  its  aspect  of  witness-bearing,  in 
its  universal  destination  and  identity  to  the  poorest  and 
to  loftily  placed  men  and  women,  such  as  sat  languidly 
looking  at  him  now,  in  its  perfect  concord  with  the 
earlier  revelation,  and  in  its  threefold  contents,  that  it 
was  the  message  of  the  Christ  who  suffered,  who  rose 
from  the  dead,  who  was  the  Light  of  the  world.  Surely 
the  promise  was  fulfilled  to  him,  and  it  was  '  given  him 
in  that  hour  what  he  should  speak.' 


vs.  19-32]  'GOVERNORS  AND  KINGS'        325 

The  rustle  in  the  crowd  was  scarcely  over,  when  the 
strong  masterful  voice  of  the  governor  rasped  out  the 
coarse  taunt,  which,  according  to  one  reading,  was 
made  coarser  (and  more  lifelike)  by  repetition,  'Thou 
art  mad,  Paul ;  thou  art  mad.'  So  did  a  hard  '  practical 
man '  think  of  that  strain  of  lofty  conviction,  and  of 
that  story  of  the  appearance  of  the  Christ.  To  be  in 
earnest  about  wealth  or  power  or  science  or  pleasure 
is  not  madness,  so  the  world  thinks ;  but  to  be  in 
earnest  about  religion,  one's  own  soul,  or  other  people's, 
is.  Which  was  the  saner,  Paul,  who  '  counted  all  things 
but  dung  that  he  might  win  Christ,'  or  Festus,  who 
counted  keeping  his  governorship,  and  making  all  that 
he  could  out  of  it,  the  one  thing  worth  living  for  ?  Who 
is  the  madman,  he  who  looks  up  and  sees  Jesus,  and 
bows  before  Him  for  lifelong  service,  or  he  who  looks 
up  and  says,  '  I  see  nothing  up  there ;  I  keep  my  eyes 
on  the  main  chance  down  here '  ?  It  would  be  a  saner 
and  a  happier  world  if  there  were  more  of  us  mad  after 
Paul's  fashion. 

Paul's  unruffled  calm  and  dignity  brushed  aside 
the  rude  exclamation  with  a  simple  affirmation  that 
his  words  were  true  in  themselves,  and  spoken  by 
one  who  had  full  command  over  his  faculties ;  and 
then  he  turned  away  from  Festus,  who  understood 
nothing,  to  Agrippa,  who,  at  any  rate,  did  understand 
a  little.  Indeed,  Festus  has  to  take  the  second  place 
throughout,  and  it  may  have  been  the  ignoring 
of  him  that  nettled  him.  For  all  his  courtesy  to 
Agrippa,  he  knew  that  the  latter  was  but  a  vassal 
king,  and  may  have  chafed  at  Paul's  addressing  him 
exclusively. 

The  Apostle  has  finished  his  defence,  and  now  he 
towers  above  the  petty  dignitaries  before  him,  and  goes 


326  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

straight  at  the  conscience  of  the  king.  Festus  had 
dismissed  the  Resurrection  of  '  one  Jesus '  as  unim- 
portant :  Paul  asserted  it,  the  Jews  denied  it.  It  was 
not  worth  while  to  ask  which  was  right.  The  man  was 
dead,  that  was  agreed.  If  Paul  said  He  was  alive  after 
death,  that  was  only  another  proof  of  madness,  and  a 
Roman  governor  had  more  weighty  things  to  occupy 
him  than  investigating  such  obscure  and  absurd  trifles. 
But  Agrippa,  though  not  himself  a  Jew,  knew  enough 
of  the  history  of  the  last  twenty  years  to  have  heard 
about  the  Resurrection  and  the  rise  of  the  Church. 
No  doubt  he  would  have  been  ready  to  admit  his 
knowledge,  but  Paul  shows  a  disposition  to  come  to 
closer  quarters  by  his  swift  thrust, '  Believest  thou  the 
prophets?'  and  the  confident  answer  which  the  ques- 
tioner gives. 

What  was  the  Apostle  bringing  these  two  things— 
the  publicity  given  to  the  facts  of  Christ's  life,  and  the 
belief  in  the  prophets— together  for?  Obviously,  if 
Agrippa  said  Yes,  then  the  next  question  would  be, 
'  Believest  thou  the  Christ,  whose  life  and  death  and 
resurrection  thou  knowest,  and  who  has  fulfilled  the 
prophets  thereby  ? '  That  would  have  been  a  hard 
question  for  the  king  to  answer.  His  conscience 
begins  to  be  uncomfortable,  and  his  dignity  is 
wounded  by  this  extremely  rude  person,  who  ven- 
tures to  talk  to  him  as  if  he  were  a  mere  common 
man.  He  has  no  better  answer  ready  than  a  sarcasm  ; 
not  a  very  forcible  one,  betraying,  however,  his  pene- 
tration into,  and  his  dislike  of,  and  his  embarrassment 
at,  Paul's  drift.  His  ironical  words  are  no  confes- 
sion of  being  'almost  persuaded,'  but  a  taunt.  'And 
do  you  really  suppose  that  it  is  so  easy  a  matter  to 
turn    me— the    great   Me,  a  Herod,  a    king,'  and    he 


v..  19-32]  'GOVERNORS  AND  KINGS'        327 

might  have  added,  a  sensual  bad  man,  •  into  a 
Christian  ? ' 

Paul  met  the  sarcastic  jest  with  deep  earnestness, 
which  must  have  hushed  the  audience  of  sycophants 
ready  to  laugh  with  the  king,  and  evidently  touched 
him  and  Festus.  His  whole  soul  ran  over  in  yearning 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  them  all.  He  took  no  notice 
of  the  gibe  in  the  word  Christian,  nor  of  the  levity  of 
Agrippa.  He  showed  that  purest  love  fills  his  heart, 
that  he  has  found  the  treasure  which  enriches  the 
poorest  and  adds  blessedness  to  the  highest.  So 
peaceful  and  blessed  is  he,  a  prisoner,  that  he  can  wish 
nothing  better  for  any  than  to  be  like  him  in  his  faith. 
He  hints  his  willingness  to  take  any  pains  and  undergo 
any  troubles  for  such  an  end ;  and,  with  almost  a 
smile,  he  looks  at  his  chains,  and  adds,  '  except  these 
bonds.' 

Did  Festus  wince  a  little  at  the  mention  of  these, 
which  ought  not  to  have  been  on  his  wrists?  At  all 
events,  the  entertainment  had  taken  rather  too  serious 
a  turn  for  the  taste  of  any  of  the  three, — Festus, 
Agrippa,  or  Bernice.  If  this  strange  man  was  going 
to  shake  their  consciences  in  that  fashion,  it  was  high 
time  to  end  what  was,  after  all,  as  far  as  the  rendering 
of  justice  was  concerned,  something  like  a  farce. 

So  with  a  rustle,  and  amid  the  obeisances  of  the 
courtiers,  the  three  rose,  and,  followed  by  the  principal 
people,  went  through  the  form  of  deliberation.  There 
was  only  one  conclusion  to  be  come  to.  He  was  per- 
fectly innocent.  So  Agrippa  solemnly  pronounced, 
what  had  been  known  before,  that  he  had  done  nothing 
worthy  of  death  or  bonds,  though  he  had  '  these  bonds  ' 
on  his  arms ;  and  salved  the  injustice  of  keeping  an 
innocent  man  in  custody  by  throwing  all  the  blame  on 


328  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

Paul  himself  for  appealing  to  Caesar.  But  the  person 
to  blame  was  Festus,  who  had  forced  Paul  to  appeal 
in  order  to  save  his  life. 


*THE  HEAVENLY  VISION » 

•  Whereupon,  O  King  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision.' 

Acts  xxvi.  19. 

This  is  Paul's  account  of  the  decisive  moment  in  his 
life  on  which  all  his  own  future,  and  a  great  deal  of 
the  future  of  Christianity  and  of  the  world,  hung. 
The  gracious  voice  had  spoken  from  heaven,  and  now 
everything  depended  on  the  answer  made  in  the  heart 
of  the  man  lying  there  blind  and  amazed.  Will  he 
rise  melted  by  love,  and  softened  into  submission,  or 
hardened  by  resistance  to  the  call  of  the  exalted  Lord  ? 
The  somewhat  singular  expression  which  he  employs 
in  the  text,  makes  us  spectators  of  the  very  process  of 
his  yielding.  For  it  might  be  rendered,  with  perhaps 
an  advantage,  'I  became  not  disobedient';  as  if  the 
*  disobedience '  was  the  prior  condition,  from  which  we 
see  him  in  the  very  act  of  passing,  by  the  melting  of 
his  nature  and  the  yielding  of  his  will.  Surely  there 
have  been  few  decisions  in  the  world's  history  big  with 
larger  destinies  than  that  which  the  captive  described 
to  Agrippa  in  the  simple  words :  '  I  became  not  dis- 
obedient unto  the  heavenly  vision.' 

I.  Note,  then,  first,  that  this  heavenly  vision  shines 
for  us  too. 

Paul  throughout  his  whole  career  looked  back  to  the 
miraculous  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  heavens, 
as  being  equally  availably    as  valid  ground  for  his 


V.19]        *THE  HEAVENLY  VISION'         329 

Christian  convictions  as  were  the  appearances  of  the 
Lord  in  bodily  form  to  the  Eleven  after  His  resurrec- 
tion. And  I  may  venture  to  vs^ork  the  parallel  in  the 
inverse  direction,  and  to  say  to  you  that  what  we  see 
and  know  of  Jesus  Christ  is  as  valid  a  ground  for  our 
convictions,  and  as  true  and  powerful  a  call  for  our 
obedience,  as  when  the  heaven  was  rent,  and  the  glory 
above  the  midday  sun  bathed  the  persecutor  and  his 
followers  on  the  stony  road  to  Damascus.  For  the 
revelation  that  is  made  to  the  understanding  and  the 
heart,  to  the  spirit  and  the  will,  is  the  same  whether  it 
be  made,  as  it  was  to  Paul,  through  a  heavenly  vision, 
or,  as  it  was  to  the  other  Apostles,  through  the  facts 
of  the  life,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Jesus, 
which  their  senses  certified  to  them,  or,  as  it  is  to  us, 
by  the  record  of  the  same  facts,  permanently  enshrined 
in  Scripture.  Paul's  sight  of  Christ  was  for  a  moment ; 
we  can  see  Him  as  often  and  as  long  as  we  will,  by 
turning  to  the  pages  of  this  Book.  Paul's  sight  of 
Christ  was  accompanied  with  but  a  partial  apprehen- 
sion of  the  great  and  far-reaching  truths  which  he  was 
to  learn  and  to  teach,  as  embodied  in  the  Lord  whom 
he  saw.  To  see  Him  was  the  work  of  a  moment,  to 
'know  Him'  was  the  effort  of  a  lifetime.  We  have 
the  abiding  results  of  the  lifelong  process  lying  ready 
to  our  hands  in  Paul's  own  letters,  and  we  have  not 
only  the  permanent  record  of  Christ  in  the  Gospels 
instead  of  the  transient  vision  in  the  heavens,  and  the 
unfolding  of  the  meaning  and  bearings  of  the  historical 
facts,  in  the  authoritative  teaching  of  the  Epistles,  but 
we  have  also,  in  the  history  of  the  Church  founded  on 
these,  in  the  manifest  workings  of  a  divine  power  for 
and  through  the  company  of  believers,  as  well  as  in 
the  correspondence  between  the  facts  and  doctrines  of 


330  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

Christianity  and  the  wants  of  humanity,  a  vision  dis- 
closed and  authenticated  as  heavenly,  more  developed, 
fuller  of  meaning  and  more  blessed  to  the  eyes  which 
see  it,  than  that  which  was  revealed  to  the  persecutor  as 
he  reeled  from  his  horse  on  the  way  to  the  great  city. 

Dear  brethren,  they  who  see  Christ  in  the  word, 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  in  the  pleading  of  the 
preacher,  in  the  course  of  the  ages,  and  who  some- 
times hear  His  voice  in  the  warnings  which  He 
breathes  into  their  consciences,  and  in  the  illumina- 
tions which  He  flashes  on  their  understanding,  need 
ask  for  no  loftier,  no  more  valid  and  irrefragable 
manifestation  of  His  gracious  self.  To  each  of  us  this 
vision  is  granted.  May  I  say,  without  seeming  egotism 
to  you  it  is  granted  even  through  the  dark  and  cloudy 
envelope  of  my  poor  words  ? 

II.  The  vision  of  Christ,  howsoever  perceived,  comes 
demanding  obedience. 

The  purpose  for  which  Jesus  Christ  made  Himself 
known  to  Paul  was  to  give  him  a  charge  which  should 
influence  his  whole  life.  And  the  manner  in  which  the 
Lord,  when  He  had  appeared,  prepared  the  way  for 
the  charge  was  twofold.  He  revealed  Himself  in  His 
radiant  glory,  in  His  exalted  being,  in  His  sympathetic 
and  mysterious  unity  with  them  that  loved  Him  and 
trusted  Him,  in  His  knowledge  of  the  doings  of  the 
persecutor;  and  He  disclosed  to  Saul  the  inmost  evil 
that  lurked  in  his  own  heart,  and  showed  him  to  his 
bewilderment  and  confusion,  how  the  course  that  he 
thought  to  be  righteousness  and  service  was  blasphemy 
and  sin.  So,  by  the  manifestation  of  Himself  enthroned 
omniscient,  bound  by  the  closest  ties  of  identity  and  of 
sympathy  with  all  that  love  Him,  and  by  the  disclosure 
of  the  amazed  gazer's  evil  and  sin,  Jesus  Christ  opened 


V.19]       *THE  HEAVENLY  VISION'  331 

the  way  for  the  charge  which  bore  in  its  very  heart  an 
assurance  of  pardon,  and  was  itself  a  manifestation  of 
His  love. 

In  like  manner  all  heavenly  visions  are  meant  to 
secure  human  obedience.  We  have  not  done  what  God 
means  us  to  do  with  any  knowledge  of  Him  which  He 
grants,  unless  we  utilise  it  to  drive  the  wheels  of  life 
and  carry  it  out  into  practice  in  our  daily  conduct. 
Revelation  is  not  meant  to  satisfy  mere  curiosity  or 
the  idle  desire  to  know.  It  shines  above  us  like  the 
stars,  but,  unlike  them,  it  shines  to  be  the  guide  of  our 
lives.  And  whatsoever  glimpse  of  the  divine  nature, 
or  of  Christ's  love,  nearness,  and  power,  we  have 
ever  caught,  was  meant  to  bow  our  wills  in  glad  sub- 
mission, and  to  animate  our  hands  for  diligent 
service  and  to  quicken  our  feet  to  run  in  the  way  of 
His  commandments. 

There  is  plenty  of  idle  gazing,  with  more  or  less  of 
belief,  at  the  heavenly  vision.  I  beseech  you  to  lay  to 
heart  this  truth,  that  Christ  rends  the  heavens  and 
shows  us  God,  not  that  men  may  know,  but  that  men 
may,  knowing,  do ;  and  all  His  visions  are  the  bases  of 
commandments.  So  the  question  for  us  all  is,  What 
are  we  doing  with  what  we  know  of  Jesus  Christ? 
Nothing  ?  Have  we  translated  our  thoughts  of  Him 
into  actions,  and  have  we  put  all  our  actions  under 
the  control  of  our  thoughts  of  Him  ?  It  is  not  enough 
that  a  man  should  say,  *  Whereupon  I  saiv  the  vision,' 
or,  '  Whereupon  I  was  convinced  of  the  vision,'  or, 
'Whereupon  I  understood  the  vision.'  Sight,  appre- 
hension, theology,  orthodoxy,  they  are  all  very  well, 
but  the  right  result  is,  'Whereupon  I  was  not  dis- 
obedient to  the  heavenly  vision.'  And  unless  your 
knowledge   of  Christ  makes  you  do,  and  keep  from 


332  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

doing,  a  thousand  things,  it  is  only  an  idle  vision, 
which  adds  to  your  guilt. 

But  notice,  in  this  connection,  the  peculiarity  of  the 
obedience  which  the  vision  requires.  There  is  not  a 
word,  in  this  story  of  Paul's  conversion,  about  the  thing 
which  Paul  himself  always  puts  in  the  foreground  as 
the  very  hinge  upon  which  conversion  turns — viz. 
faith.  Not  a  word.  The  name  is  not  here,  but  the 
thing  is  here,  if  people  will  look.  For  the  obedience 
which  Pavnl  says  that  he  rendered  to  the  vision  was 
not  rendered  with  his  hands.  He  got  up  to  his  feet  on 
the  road  there,  *  not  disobedient,*  though  he  had  not 
yet  done  anything.  This  is  to  say,  the  man's  will  had 
melted.  It  had  all  gone  with  a  run,  so  to  speak,  and 
the  inmost  being  of  him  was  subdued.  The  obedience 
was  the  submission  of  self  to  God,  and  not  the  more 
or  less  diligent  and  continuous  consequent  external 
activity  in  the  way  of  God's  commandments. 

Further,  Paul's  obedience  is  also  an  obedience  based 
upon  the  vision  of  Jesus  Christ  enthroned,  living,  bound 
by  ties  that  thrill  at  the  slightest  touch  to  all  hearts 
that  love  Him,  and  making  common  cause  with  them. 

And  furthermore,  it  is  an  obedience  based  upon  the 
shuddering  recognition  of  Paul's  own  unsuspected  evil 
and  foulness,  how  all  the  life,  that  he  had  thought  was 
being  built  up  into  a  temple  that  God  would  inhabit, 
was  rottenness  and  falsehood. 

And  it  is  an  obedience,  further,  built  upon  the  recog- 
nition of  pity  and  pardon  in  Christ,  who,  after  His 
sharp  denunciation  of  the  sin,  looks  down  from  Heaven 
with  a  smile  of  forgiveness  upon  His  lips,  and  says : 
'  But  rise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet,  for  I  will  send  thee 
to  make  known  My  name.' 

An  obedience  which  is  the  inward  yielding  of  the 


V.19]        *THE  HEAVENLY  VISION'  333 

will,  which  is  all  built  upon  the  revelation  of  the  living 
Christ,  who  was  dead  and  is  alive  for  evermore,  and 
close  to  all  His  followers  ;  and  is,  further,  the  thankful 
tribute  of  a  heart  that  knows  itself  to  be  sinful,  and  is 
certain  that  it  is  forgiven — what  is  that  but  the  obedi- 
ence which  is  of  faith  ?  And  thus,  when  I  say  that  the 
heavenly  vision  demands  obedience,  I  do  not  mean 
that  Christ  shows  Himself  to  you  to  set  you  to  work, 
but  I  mean  that  Christ  shows  Himself  to  you  that  you 
may  yield  yourselves  to  Him,  and  in  the  act  may 
receive  power  to  do  all  His  sweet  and  sacred  will. 

III.  Thirdly,  this  obedience  is  in  our  own  power  to 
give  or  to  withhold. 

Paul,  as  I  said  in  my  introductory  remarks,  puts  us 
here  as  spectators  of  the  very  act  of  submission.  He 
shows  it  to  us  in  its  beginning — he  shows  us  the  state 
from  which  he  came  and  that  into  which  he  passed, 
and  he  tells  us,  'I  became — not  disobedient.'  In  his 
case  it  was  a  complete,  swift,  and  permanent  revolu- 
tion, as  if  some  thick-ribbed  ice  should  all  at  once  melt 
into  sweet  water.  But  whether  swift  or  slow  it  was 
his  own  act,  and  after  the  Voice  had  spoken  it  was 
possible  that  Paul  should  have  resisted  and  risen  from 
the  ground,  not  a  servant,  but  a  persecutor  still.  For 
God's  grace  constrains  no  man,  and  there  is  always 
the  possibility  open  that  when  He  calls  we  refuse,  and 
that  when  He  beseeches  we  say,  '  I  will  not.' 

There  is  the  mystery  on  which  the  subtlest  intellects 
have  tasked  their  powers  and  blunted  the  edge  of  their 
keenness  in  all  generations ;  and  it  is  not  likely  to  be 
settled  in  five  minutes  of  a  sermon  of  mine.  But  the 
practical  point  that  I  have  to  urge  is  simply  this: 
there  are  two  mysteries,  the  one  that  men  can,  and 
the  other  that  men  do,  resist  Christ's  pleading  voice. 


334  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

As  to  the  former,  we  cannot  fathom  it.  But  do  not  let 
any  difficulty  deaden  to  you  the  clear  voice  of  your 
own  consciousness.  If  I  cannot  trust  my  sense  that  I 
can  do  this  thing  or  not  do  it,  as  I  choose,  there  is 
nothing  that  I  can  trust.  Will  is  the  power  of  deter- 
mining which  of  two  roads  I  shall  go,  and,  strange  as 
it  is,  incapable  of  statement  in  any  more  general  terms 
than  the  reiteration  of  the  fact ;  yet  here  stands  the 
fact,  that  God,  the  infinite  Will,  has  given  to  men, 
whom  He  made  in  His  own  image,  this  inexplicable 
and  awful  power  of  coinciding  with  or  opposing  His 
purposes  and  His  voice. 

'  Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how ; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  to  make  them  Thine.' 

For  the  other  mystery  is,  that  men  do  consciously 
set  themselves  against  the  will  of  God,  and  refuse  the 
gifts  which  they  know  all  the  while  are  for  their  good. 
It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that  sin  is  ignorance.  No  ;  that  is 
only  a  surface  explanation.  You  and  I  know  too  well 
that  many  a  time  when  we  have  been  as  sure  of  what 
God  wanted  us  to  do  as  if  we  had  seen  it  written  in 
flaming  letters  on  the  sky  there,  we  have  gone  and 
done  the  exact  opposite.  I  know  that  there  are  men 
and  women  who  are  convinced  in  their  inmost  souls 
that  they  ought  to  be  Christians,  and  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  pleading  with  them  at  the  present  hour,  and  yet  in 
whose  hearts  there  is  no  yielding  to  what,  they  yet 
are  certain,  is  the  will  and  voice  of  Jesus  Christ. 

IV.  Lastly,  this  obedience  may,  in  a  moment,  revolu- 
tionise a  life. 

Paul  rode  from  Jerusalem  '  breathing  out  threaten- 
ings  and  slaughters,'  He  fell  from  his  warhorse,  a 
persecutor  of  Christians,  and  a  bitter  enemy  of  Jesus. 
A   few   moments    pass.    There    was  one   moment   in 


V.19]         *THE  HEAVENLY  VISION'         335 

which  the  crucial  decision  was  made;  and  he  staggered 
to  his  feet,  loving  all  that  he  had  hated,  and  abandon- 
ing all  in  which  he  had  trusted.  His  own  doctrine 
that  '  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature,  old 
things  are  passed  away  and  all  things  are  become  new,' 
is  but  a  generalisation  of  what  befell  himself  on  the 
Damascus  road.  It  is  of  no  use  trying  to  say  that  there 
had  been  a  warfare  going  on  in  this  man's  mind  long 
before,  of  which  his  complete  capitulation  was  only 
the  final  visible  outcome.  There  is  not  a  trace  of  any- 
thing of  the  kind  in  the  story.  It  is  a  pure  hypothesis 
pressed  into  the  service  of  the  anti-supernatural  ex- 
planation of  the  fact. 

There  are  plenty  of  analogies  of  such  sudden  and 
entire  revolution.  All  reformation  of  a  moral  kind  is 
best  done  quickly.  It  is  a  very  hopeless  task,  as  every 
one  knows,  to  tell  a  drunkard  to  break  off  his  habits 
gradually.  There  must  be  one  moment  in  which  he 
definitely  turns  himself  round  and  sets  his  face  in 
the  other  direction.  Some  things  are  best  done  with 
slow,  continuous  pressure;  other  things  need  to  be 
done  with  a  wrench  if  they  are  to  be  done  at  all. 

There  used  to  be  far  too  much  insistence  upon  one 
type  of  religious  experience,  and  all  men  that  were 
to  be  recognised  as  Christians  were,  by  evangelical 
Nonconformists,  required  to  be  able  to  point  to  the 
moment  when,  by  some  sudden  change,  they  passed 
from  darkness  to  light.  We  have  drifted  away  from 
that  very  far  now,  and  there  is  need  for  insisting,  not 
upon  the  necessity,  but  upon  the  possibility,  of  sudden 
conversions.  However  some  may  try  to  show  that 
such  experiences  cannot  be,  the  experience  of  every 
earnest  Christian  teacher  can  answer — well !  whether 
they  can  be  or  not,  they  are.    Jesus  Christ  cured  two 


336  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

men  gradually,  and  all  the  others  instantaneously.  No 
doubt,  for  young  people  who  have  been  born  amidst 
Christian  influences,  and  have  grown  up  in  Christian 
households,  the  usual  way  of  becoming  Christians  is 
that  slowly  and  imperceptibly  they  shall  pass  into  the 
consciousness  of  communion  with  Jesus  Christ.  But 
for  people  who  have  grown  up  irreligious  and,  per- 
haps, profligate  and  sinful,  the  most  probable  way  is  a 
sudden  stride  out  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  into  the 
kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son.  So  I  come  to  you  all  with 
this  message.  No  matter  what  your  past,  no  matter 
how  much  of  your  life  may  have  ebbed  away,  no 
matter  how  deeply  rooted  and  obstinate  may  be  your 
habits  of  evil,  no  matter  how  often  you  may  have  tried 
to  mend  yourself  and  have  failed,  it  is  possible  by  one 
swift  act  of  surrender  to  break  the  chains  and  go  free. 
In  every  man's  life  there  have  been  moments  into 
which  years  have  been  crowded,  and  which  have  put  a 
wider  gulf  between  his  past  and  his  present  self  than 
many  slow,  languid  hours  can  dig.  A  great  sorrow,  a 
great  joy,  a  great,  newly  discerned  truth,  a  great  re- 
solve will  make  'one  day  as  a  thousand  years.'  Men 
live  through  such  moments  and  feel  that  the  past  is 
swallowed  up  as  by  an  earthquake.  The  highest  in- 
stance of  thus  making  time  elastic  and  crowding  it  with 
meaning  is  when  a  man  forms  and  keeps  the  swift 
resolve  to  yield  himself  to  Christ.  It  may  be  the  work 
of  a  moment,  but  it  makes  a  gulf  between  past  and 
future,  like  that  which  parted  the  time  before  and 
the  time  after  that  in  which  '  God  said.  Let  there  be 
light:  and  there  was  light.'  If  you  have  never  yet 
bowed  before  the  heavenly  vision  and  yielded  your- 
self as  conquered  by  the  love  which  pardons,  to  be 
the  glad  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  who  takes  all  His 


V.  19]  '  ME  A  CHRISTIAN  I  *  337 

servants  into  wondrous  oneness  with  Himself,  do  it 
now.  You  can  do  it.  Delay  is  disobedience,  and  may  be 
death.  Do  it  now,  and  your  whole  life  will  be  changed. 
Peace  and  joy  and  power  will  come  to  you,  and  you, 
made  a  new  man,  will  move  in  a  new  world  of  new 
relations,  duties,  energies,  loves,  gladnesses,  helps,  and 
hopes.  If  you  take  heed  to  prolong  the  point  into  a 
line,  and  hour  by  hour  to  renew  the  surrender  and  the 
cry, '  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ? '  you  will 
ever  have  the  vision  of  the  Christ  enthroned,  pardon- 
ing, sympathising,  and  commanding,  which  will  fill 
your  sky  with  glory,  point  the  path  of  your  feet,  and 
satisfy  your  gaze  with  His  beauty,  and  your  heart 
with  His  all-sufficing  and  ever-present  love. 


•ME  A  CHRISTIAN!' 

•  Then  Agrippa  said  unto.  Paul,  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian.' 

Acts  xxvi.  28. 

This  Agrippa  was  son  of  the  other  Herod  of  whom  we 
hear  in  the  Acts  as  a  persecutor.  This  one  appears, 
from  other  sources,  to  have  had  the  vices  but  not 
the  force  of  character  of  his  bad  race.  He  was  weak 
and  indolent,  a  mere  hanger-on  of  Rome,  to  which  he 
owed  his  kingdom,  and  to  which  he  stoutly  stuck 
during  all  the  tragedy  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  In 
position  and  in  character  (largely  resulting  from  the 
position)  he  was  uncommonly  like  those  semi-inde- 
pendent rajahs  in  India,  who  are  allowed  to  keep  up 
a  kind  of  shadow  of  authority  on  condition  of  doing 
what  Calcutta  bids  them.  Of  course  frivolity  and 
debauchery  become  the  business  of  such  m.en.  What 
VOL.  n.  Y 


3m  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

sort  of  a  man  this  was  may  be  sufficiently  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  Bernice  was  his  sister. 

But  he  knew  a  good  deal  about  the  Jews,  about 
their  opinions,  their  religion,  and  about  what  had 
been  going  on  during  the  last  half  century  amongst 
them.  On  grounds  of  policy  he  professed  to  accept 
the  Jewish  faith — of  which  an  edifying  example  is 
given  in  the  fact  that,  on  one  occasion,  Bernice  was 
prevented  from  accompanying  him  to  Rome  because 
she  was  fulfilling  a  Nazarite  vow  in  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem ! 

So  the  Apostle  was  fully  warranted  in  appealing  to 
Agrippa's  knowledge,  not  only  of  Judaism,  but  of  the 
history  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  his  further  assertion, 
'I  know  that  thou  believest.'  But  the  home-thrust 
was  too  much  for  the  king.  His  answer  is  given  in 
the  words  of  our  text. 

They  are  very  familiar  words,  and  they  have  been 
made  the  basis  of  a  great  many  sermons  upon  being 
all  but  persuaded  to  accept  of  Christ  as  Saviour.  But, 
edifying  as  such  a  use  of  them  is,  it  can  scarcely  be 
sustained  by  their  actual  meaning.  Most  commen- 
tators are  agreed  that  our  "Authorised  Version  does 
not  represent  either  Agrippa's  words  or  his  tone.  He 
was  not  speaking  in  earnest.  His  words  are  sarcasm, 
not  a  half  melting  into  conviction,  and  the  Revised 
Version  gives  what  may,  on  the  whole,  be  accepted 
as  being  a  truer  representation  of  their  intention  when 
it  reads,  '  With  but  little  persuasion  thou  wouldst  fain 
make  me  a  Christian.' 

He  is  half  amused  and  half  angry  at  the  Apostle's 
presumption  in  supposing  that  so  easily  or  so  quickly 
he  was  going  to  land  his  fish.  *It  is  a  more  difficult 
task  than  you  fancy,  Paul,  to  make  a  Christian  of  a 


V.28J  «ME  A  CHKISTIAN!*  339 

man  like  me.'  That  is  the  real  meaning  of  his  words, 
and  I  think  that,  rightly  understood,  they  yield  lessons 
of  no  less  value  than  those  that  have  been  so  often 
drawn  from  them  as  they  appear  in  our  Authorised 
Version.  So  I  wish  to  try  and  gather  up  and  urge 
upon  you  now  these  lessons : — 

I.  First,  then,  I  see  here  an  example  of  the  danger 
of  a  superficial  familiarity  with  Christian  truth. 

As  I  said,  Agrippa  knew,  in  a  general  way,  a  good 
deal  not  only  about  the  prophets  and  the  Jewish 
religion,  but  of  the  outstanding  facts  of  the  death  and 
Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  Paul's  assumption  that 
he  knew  would  have  been  very  quickly  repudiated  if 
it  had  not  been  based  upon  fact.  And  the  inference 
from  his  acceptance  without  contradiction  of  the 
Apostle's  statement  is  confirmed  by  his  use  of  the 
word  'Christian,'  which  had  by  no  means  come  into 
general  employment  when  he  spoke ;  and  in  itself 
indicates  that  he  knew  a  good  deal  about  the  people 
who  were  so  named.  Mark  the  contrast,  for  instance, 
between  him  and  the  bluff  Roman  official  at  his  side. 
To  Festus,  Paul's  talking  about  a  dead  man's  having 
risen,  and  a  risen  Jew  becoming  a  light  to  all  nations, 
was  such  utter  nonsense  that,  with  characteristic 
Roman  contempt  for  men  with  ideas,  he  breaks  in, 
with  his  rough,  strident  voice,  '  Much  learning  has 
m^ade  thee  mad.'  There  was  not  much  chance  of  that 
cause  producing  that  effect  on  Festus.  But  he  was 
apparently  utterly  bewildered  at  this  entirely  novel 
and  unintelligible  sort  of  talk.  Agrippa,  on  the  other 
hand,  knows  all  about  the  Resurrection;  has  heard 
that  there  was  such  a  thing,  and  has  a  general  rough 
notion  of  what  Paul  believed  as  a  Christian. 

And  was  he  any  better  for  it  ?    No ;  he  was  a  great 


340  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

deal  worse.  It  took  the  edge  off  a  good  deal  of  his 
curiosity.  It  made  him  fancy  that  he  knew  before- 
hand all  that  the  Apostle  had  to  say.  It  stood  in  the 
way  of  his  apprehending  the  truths  which  he  thought 
that  he  understood. 

And  although  the  world  knows  a  great  deal  more 
about  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Gospel  than  he  did,  the 
very  same  thing  is  true  about  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  people  who  have  all  their  lives  long  been  brought 
into  contact  with  Christianity.  Superficial  knowledge 
is  the  worst  enemy  of  accurate  knowledge,  for  the 
first  condition  of  knowing  a  thing  is  to  know  that  we 
do  not  know  it.  And  so  there  are  a  great  many  of 
us  who,  having  picked  up  since  childhood  vague  and 
partially  inaccurate  notions  about  Christ  and  His 
Gospel  and  what  He  has  done,  are  so  satisfied  on  the 
strength  of  these  that  we  know  all  about  it,  that 
we  listen  to  preaching  about  it  with  a  very  languid 
attention.  The  ground  in  our  minds  is  preoccupied 
with  our  own  vague  and  imperfect  apprehensions.  I 
believe  that  there  is  nothing  that  stands  more  in  the 
way  of  hundreds  of  people  coming  into  real  intelligent 
contact  with  Gospel  truth  than  the  half  knowledge 
that  they  have  had  of  it  ever  since  they  were  children. 
You  fancy  that  you  know  all  that  I  can  tell  you. 
Very  probably  you  do.  But  have  you  ever  taken  a 
firm  hold  of  the  plain  central  facts  of  Christianity — 
your  own  sinfulness  and  helplessness,  your  need  of  a 
Saviour,  the  perfect  work  of  Jesus  Christ  who  died 
on  the  Cross  for  you,  and  the  power  of  simple  faith 
therein  to  join  you  to  Him,  and,  if  followed  by  conse- 
cration and  obedience,  to  make  you  partakers  of  His 
nature,  and  heirs  of  the  inheritance  that  is  above? 
These    are    but    the    fundamentals,    the   outlines   of 


V.28]  *  ME  A  CHRISTIAN!'  841 

Gospel  truth.  But  far  too  many  of  you  see  them,  in 
such  a  manner  as  you  see  the  figures  cast  upon  a 
screen  when  the  lantern  is  not  rightly  focussed,  with 
a  blurred  outline,  and  the  blurred  outline  keeps  you 
from  seeing  the  sharp-cut  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  In 
all  regions  of  thought  inaccurate  knowledge  is  the 
worst  foe  to  further  understanding,  and  eminently  is 
this  the  case  in  religion.  Brethren,  some  of  you  are 
in  that  position. 

Then  there  is  another  way  in  which  such  knowledge 
as  that  of  which  the  king  in  our  text  is  an  example  is 
a  hindrance,  and  that  is,  that  it  is  knowledge  which 
has  no  effect  on  character.  What  do  hundreds  of  us 
do  with  our  knowledge  of  Christianity?  Our  minds 
seem  built  in  watertight  compartments,  and  we  keep 
the  doors  of  them  shut  very  close,  so  that  truths  in 
the  understanding  have  no  influence  on  the  will. 
Many  of  you  believe  the  Gospel  intellectually,  and  it 
does  not  make  a  hairsbreadth  of  difference  to  any- 
thing that  you  ever  either  thought  or  wished  or  did. 
And  because  you  so  believe  it,  it  is  utterly  impossible 
that  it  should  ever  be  of  any  use  to  you.  'Agrippa, 
believest  thou  the  prophets  ?  I  know  that  thou  be- 
lievest.'  'Yes,  believest  the  prophets,  and  Bernice 
sitting  by  thy  side  there — believest  the  prophets,  and 
livest  in  utter  bestial  godlessness.'  What  is  the  good 
of  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  like  that?  And  is  it 
not  such  knowledge  of  Christianity  that  blocks  the 
way  with  some  of  you  for  anything  more  real  and 
more  operative  ?  There  is  nothing  more  impotent  than 
a  firmly  believed  and  utterly  neglected  truth.  And 
that  is  what  the  Christianity  of  some  of  you  is  when 
it  is  analysed. 

II.  Now,   secondly,  notice  how  we  b^ve  here   tho 


342  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

example  of  a  proud  man  indignantly  recoiling  from 
submission. 

There  is  a  world  of  contempt  in  Agrippa's  words,  in 
the  very  putting  side  by  side  of  the  two  things.  'Me! 
Me,'  with  a  very  large  capital  M — 'Me  a  Christian?' 
He  thinks  of  his  dignity,  poor  creature.  It  was  not 
such  a  very  tremendous  dignity  after  all.  He  was  a 
petty  kinglet,  permitted  by  the  grace  of  Rome  to  live 
and  to  pose  as  if  he  were  the  real  thing,  and  yet  he 
struts  and  claps  his  wings  and  crows  on  his  little 
hillock  as  if  it  were  a  mountain.  ^ Me  a  Christian?' 
'The  great  Agrippa  a  Christian V  And  he  uses  that 
word  '  Christian '  with  the  intense  contempt  which 
coined  it  and  adhered  to  it,  until  the  men  to  whom 
it  was  applied  were  wise  enough  to  take  it  and  bind 
it  as  a  crown  of  honour  upon  their  head.  The  wits 
at  Antioch  first  of  all  hit  upon  the  designation.  They 
meant  a  very  exquisite  piece  of  sarcasm  by  their  nick- 
name. These  people  were  '  Christians,'  just  as  some 
other  people  were  Herodians — Christ's  men,  the  men 
of  this  impostor  who  pretended  to  be  a  Messiah.  That 
seemed  such  an  intensely  ludicrous  thing  to  the  wise 
people  in  Antioch  that  they  coined  the  name ;  and  no 
doubt  thought  they  had  done  a  very  clever  thing.  It  is 
only  used  in  the  Bible  in  the  notice  of  its  origin; 
here,  with  a  very  evident  connotation  of  contempt ; 
and  once  more  when  Peter  in  his  letter  refers  to 
it  as  being  the  indictment  on  which  certain  disciples 
suffered.  So  when  Agrippa  says,  '  Me  a  Christian,'  he 
puts  all  the  bitterness  that  he  can  into  that  last  word. 
As  if  he  said, '  Do  you  really  think  that  I— I— am  going 
to  bow  myself  down  to  be  a  follower  and  adherent 
of  that  Christ  of  yours?  The  thing  is  too  ridiculous! 
With  but  little  persuasion  you  '^ould  f»-in  make  me 


V.28]  'ME  A  CHRISTIAN!'  343 

a  Christian.  But  you  will  find  it  a  harder  task  than 
you  fancy.' 

Now,  my  dear  friends,  the  shape  of  this  unwilling- 
ness is  changed  but  the  fact  of  it  remains.  There 
are  two  or  three  features  of  what  I  take  to  be  the 
plain  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  which  grate  very  much 
against  all  self-importance  and  self-complacency,  and 
operate  very  largely,  though  not  always  consciously, 
upon  very  many  amongst  us.  I  just  run  them  over, 
very  briefly. 

The  Gospel  insists  on  dealing  with  everybody  in  the 
same  fashion,  and  on  regarding  all  as  standing  on  the 
same  level.  Many  of  us  do  not  like  that.  Translate 
Agrippa's  scorn  into  words  that  fit  ourselves :  '  I  am  a 
well-to-do  Manchester  man.  Am  I  to  stand  on  the 
same  level  as  my  office-boy  ? '  Yes !  the  very  same.  '  I, 
a  student,  perhaps  a  teacher  of  science,  or  a  cultivated 
man,  a  scholar,  a  lawyer,  a  professional  man — am  I  to 
stand  on  the  same  level  as  people  that  scarcely  know 
how  to  read  and  write?'  Yes,  exactly.  So,  like  the 
man  in  the  Old  Testament,  '  he  turned  and  went  away 
in  a  rage.'  Many  of  us  would  like  that  there  should 
be  a  little  private  door  for  us  in  consideration  of 
our  position  or  acquirements  or  respectability,  or  this, 
that,  or  the  other  thing.  At  any  rate  we  are  not  to 
be  classed  in  the  same  category  with  the  poor  and  the 
ignorant  and  the  sinful  and  the  savage  all  over  the 
world.  But  we  are  so  classed.  Do  not  you  and  the 
men  in  Patagonia  breathe  the  same  air  ?  Are  not  your 
bodies  subject  to  the  same  laws?  Have  you  not  to 
be  contented  to  be  fed  in  the  same  fashion,  and  to 
sleep  and  eat  and  drink  in  the  same  way?  'We 
have  all  of  us  one  human  heart';  and  'there  is  no 
difference,  for  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 


344  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvi. 

glory  of  God.'  The  identities  of  humanity,  in  all  its 
examples,  are  deeper  than  the  differences  in  any.  We 
have  all  the  one  Saviour  and  are  to  be  saved  in  the 
same  fashion.  That  is  a  humbling  thing  for  those  of  us 
who  stand  upon  some  little  elevation,  real  or  fancied, 
but  it  is  only  the  other  side  of  the  great  truth  that 
God's  love  is  world-wide,  and  that  Christ's  Gospel  is 
meant  for  humanity.  Naaman,  to  whom  I  have  already 
referred  in  passing,  wanted  to  be  treated  as  a  great 
man  who  happened  to  be  a  leper;  Elisha  insisted  on 
treating  him  as  a  leper  who  happened  to  be  a  great 
man.  And  that  makes  all  the  difference.  I  remember 
seeing  somewhere  that  a  great  surgeon  had  said  that 
the  late  Emperor  of  Germany  would  have  had  a  far 
better  chance  of  being  cured  if  he  had  gone  incognito 
to  the  hospital  for  throat  diseases.  We  all  need  the 
same  surgery,  and  we  must  be  contented  to  take  it  in 
the  same  fashion.  So,  some  of  us  recoil  from  humbling 
equality  with  the  lowest  and  worst. 

Then  again,  another  thing  that  sometimes  makes 
people  shrink  back  from  the  Gospel  is  that  it  insists 
upon  every  one  being  saved  solely  by  dependence  on 
Another.  We  would  like  to  have  a  part  in  our  sal- 
vation, and  many  of  us  had  rather  do  anything  in 
the  way  of  sacrifice  or  suffering  or  penance  than  take 
this  position : 

'  Nothing  in  my  hand  I  bring, 
Simply  to  Thy  Cross  I  cling.' 

Corrupt  forms  of  Christianity  have  taken  an  acute 
measure  of  the  worst  parts  of  human  nature,  when 
they  have  taught  men  that  they  can  eke  out  Christ's 
work  by  their  own,  and  have  some  kind  of  share  in 
their  own  salvation.    Dear  brethren,  I  have  to  bring 


V.  28]  *  ME  A  CHRISTIAN  I '  345 

to  you  another  Gospel  than  that,  and  to  say,  All  is 
done  for  us,  and  all  will  be  done  in  us,  and  nothing 
has  to  be  done  by  us.  Some  of  you  do  not  like 
that.  Just  as  a  man  drowning  is  almost  sure  to 
try  to  help  himself,  and  get  his  limbs  inextricably 
twisted  round  his  would-be  rescuer  and  drown  them 
both,  so  men  will  not,  without  a  struggle,  consent 
to  owe  everything  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  let  Him 
draw  them  out  of  many  waters  and  set  them  on  the 
safe  shore.  But  unless  we  do  so,  we  have  little  share 
in  His  Gospel. 

And  another  thing  stands  in  the  way — namely,  that 
the  Gospel  insists  upon  absolute  obedience  to  Jesus 
Christ.  Agrippa  fancied  that  it  was  an  utterly  pre- 
posterous idea  that  he  should  lower  his  flag,  and  doff 
his  crown,  and  become  the  servant  of  a  Jewish  peasant. 
A  great  many  of  us,  though  we  have  a  higher  idea  of 
our  Lord  than  his,  do  yet  find  it  quite  as  hard  to 
submit  our  wills  to  His,  and  to  accept  the  condition 
of  absolute  obedience,  utter  resignation  to  Him,  and 
entire  subjection  to  His  commandment.  We  say,  'Let 
my  own  will  have  a  little  bit  of  play  in  a  corner.' 
Some  of  us  find  it  very  hard  to  believe  that  we  are 
to  bring  all  our  thinking  upon  religious  and  moral 
subjects  to  Hira,  and  to  accept  His  word  as  conclusive, 
settling  all  controversies.  'I,  with  my  culture;  am  I 
to  accept  what  Christ  says  as  the  end  of  strife  ? '  Yes, 
absolute  submission  is  the  plainest  condition  of  real 
Christianity.  The  very  name  tells  us  that.  We  are 
Christians,  i.e.  Christ's  men ;  and  unless  we  are,  we  have 
no  right  to  the  name.  But  some  of  us  had  rather  be 
our  own  masters  and  enjoy  the  miseries  of  indepen- 
dence and  self-will,  and  so  be  the  slaves  of  our  worse 
selves,  than  bow  ourselves  utterly  before  that  dear 


346  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvi. 

Lord,  and  so  pass  into  the  freedom  of  a  service  love- 
inspired,  and  by  love  accepted.  '  Thou  wouldst  fain 
persuade  me  to  be  a  Christian,'  is  the  recoil  of  a  proud 
heart  from  submission.  Brethren,  let  me  beseech  you 
that  it  may  not  be  yours. 

III.  Again,  we  have  here  an  example  of  instinctive 
shrinking  from  the  personal  application  of  broad 
truths. 

Agrippa  listened,  half-amused  and  a  good  deal  in- 
terested, to  Paul  as  long  as  he  talked  generalities 
and  described  his  own  experience.  But  when  he  cam.e 
to  point  the  generalities  and  to  drive  them  home  to 
the  hearer's  heart  it  was  time  to  stop  him.  That 
question  of  the  Apostle's,  keen  and  sudden  as  the 
flash  of  a  dagger,  went  straight  home,  and  the  king 
at  once  gathered  himself  together  into  an  attitude  of 
resistance.  Ah,  that  is  what  hundreds  of  people  do! 
You  will  let  me  preach  as  long  as  I  like — only  you 
will  get  a  little  weary  sometimes — you  will  let  me 
preach  generalities  ad  libitum.  But  when  I  come  to 
'  And  thou  ? '  then  I  am  '  rude '  and  '  inquisitorial '  and 
'personal'  and  'trespassing  on  a  region  where  I  have 
no  business,'  and  so  on  and  so  on.  And  so  you  shut 
up  your  heart  if  not  your  ears. 

And  yet,  brethren,  what  is  the  use  of  toothless 
generalities  ?  What  am  I  here  for  if  I  am  not  here 
to  take  these  broad,  blunt  truths  and  sharpen  them 
to  a  point,  and  try  to  get  them  in  between  the  joints 
of  your  armour  ?  Can  any  man  faithfully  preach  the 
Gospel  who  is  always  flying  over  the  heads  of  his 
hearers  with  universalities,  and  never  goes  straight 
to  their  hearts  with  '  Thou — thou  art  the  man !  * 
•Believest  thou?' 

And  so,  deotT  friends,  let  me  press  that   question 


V.28]  *ME  A  CHRISTIAN!'  347 

upon  you.  Never  mind  about  other  people.  Suppose 
you  and  I  were  alone  together  and  my  words  were 
coming  straight  to  thee.  Would  they  not  have  more 
power  than  they  have  now?  They  are  so  coming. 
Think  away  all  these  other  people,  and  this  place,  ay, 
and  me  too,  and  let  the  word  of  Christ,  which  deals 
with  no  crowds  but  with  single  souls,  come  to  you  in 
its  individualising  force:  'Believest  thou'?''  You  will 
have  to  answer  that  question  one  day.  Better  to  face 
it  now  and  try  to  answer  it  than  to  leave  it  all  vague 
until  you  get  yonder,  where  *  each  one  of  us  shall  give 
account  of  himself  to  God.' 

IV.  Lastly,  we  have  here  an  example  of  a  soul  close 
to  the  light,  but  passing  into  the  dark. 

Agrippa  listens  to  Paul;  Bernice  listens;  Festus 
listens.  And  what  comes  of  it?  Only  this,  'And 
when  they  were  gone  aside,  they  talked  between  them- 
selves, saying,  This  man  hath  done  nothing  worthy 
of  death  or  of  bonds.'  May  I  translate  into  a  modern 
equivalent:  And  when  they  were  gone  aside,  they 
talked  between  themselves,  saying, '  This  man  preached 
a  very  impressive  sermon,'  or,  '  This  man  preached  a 
very  wearisome  sermon,'  and  there  an  end. 

Agrippa  and  Bernice  went  their  wicked  way,  and 
Festus  went  his,  and  none  of  them  knew  what  a  fate- 
ful moment  they  had  passed  through.  Ah,  brethren ! 
there  are  many  such  in  our  lives  when  we  make 
decisions  that  influence  our  whole  future,  and  no  sign 
shows  that  the  moment  is  any  way  different  from 
millions  of  its  undistinguished  fellows.  It  is  eminently 
so  in  regard  to  our  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Gospel.  These  three  had  been  in  the  light ;  they  were 
never  so  near  it  again.  Probably  they  never  heard 
the  Gospel  preached  any  more,  and  they  went  away, 


348         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

not  knowing  what  they  had  done  when  they  silenced 
Paul  and  left  him.  Now  you  will  probably  hear 
plenty  of  sermons  in  future.  You  may  or  you  may 
not.  But  be  sure  of  this,  that  if  you  go  away  from 
this  one,  unmelted  and  unbelieving,  you  have  not 
done  a  trivial  thing.  You  have  added  one  more 
stone  to  the  barrier  that  you  yourself  build  to  shut 
you  out  from  holiness  and  happiness,  from  hope 
and  heaven.  It  is  not  I  that  ask  you  the  question, 
it  is  not  Paul  that  asks  it,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  says 
to  you,  as  He  said  to  the  blind  man,  '  Dost  thou 
believe  on  the  Son  of  God?'  or  as  He  said  to  the 
weeping  sister  of  Lazarus,  'Believest  thou  this?'  O 
dear  friends,  do  not  answer  like  this  arrogant  bit 
of  a  king,  but  cry  with  tears,  '  Lord,  I  believe ;  help 
Thou  mine  unbelief ! ' 


TEMPEST  AND  TRUST 

And  when  the  south  wind  blew  softly,  supposing  that  they  had  obtained  their 
purpose,  loosing  thence,  they  sailed  close  by  Crete,  li.  But  not  long  after  there 
arose  against  it  a  tempestuous  wind,  called  Euroclydon.  15.  And  when  the 
ship  was  caught,  and  could  not  bear  up  into  the  wind,  we  let  her  drive. 
16.  And  running  under  a  certain  island  which  is  called  Clauda,  we  had  much 
work  to  come  by  the  boat :  17.  Which  when  they  had  taken  up,  they  used  helps, 
undergirding  the  ship;  and,  fearing  lest  they  should  fall  into  the  quicksands, 
strake  sail,  and  so  were  driven.  18.  And  we  being  exceedingly  tossed  with  a 
tempest,  the  next  day  they  lightened  the  ship ;  19.  And  the  third  day  we  cast  out 
with  our  own  hands  the  tackling  of  the  ship.  20.  And  when  neither  sun  nor  stars 
in  many  days  appeared,  and  no  small  tempest  lay  on  us,  all  hope  that  wc  should 
be  saved  was  then  taken  away.  21.  But  after  long  abstinence  Paul  stood  forth 
in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said.  Sirs,  ye  should  have  hearkened  unto  me,  and  not 
have  loosed  from  Crete,  and  to  have  gained  this  harm  and  loss.  22.  And  now  I 
exhort  you  to  be  of  good  cheer :  for  there  shall  be  no  loss  of  any  man's  life  among 
you,  but  of  the  ship.  23.  For  there  stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of  God,  whose 
I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  24.  Saying,  Fear  not,  Paul ;  thou  must  be  brought 
before  Coesar :  and,  lo,  God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee.  25. 
Wherefore,  sirs,  be  of  good  cheer :  for  I  believe  God,  that  it  shall  be  even  as  it 
was  told  me.  26.  Howbeit  we  must  be  cast  upon  a  certain  island.'— Acts 
xxvii.  13-26. 

Luke's  minute  account  of  the  shipwreck  implies  that 
he   was    not   a   Jew.    His   interest  in    the    sea  and 


vs.  13-26]      TEMPEST  AND  TRUST  849 

familiarity  with  sailors'  terms  are  quite  unlike  a 
persistent  Jewish  characteristic  which  still  continues. 
We  have  a  Jew's  description  of  a  storm  at  sea  in  the 
Book  of  Jonah,  which  is  as  evidently  the  work  of  a 
landsman  as  Luke's  is  of  one  who,  though  not  a  sailor, 
was  well  up  in  maritime  matters.  His  narrative  lays 
hold  of  the  essential  points,  and  is  as  accurate  as  it  is 
vivid.  This  section  has  two  parts  :  the  account  of  the 
storm,  and  the  grand  example  of  calm  trust  and  cheery 
encouragement  given  in  Paul's  words. 

I.  The  consultation  between  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  and  the  centurion,  at  which  Paul  assisted, 
strikes  us,  with  our  modern  notions  of  a  captain's 
despotic  power  on  his  own  deck,  and  single  responsi- 
bility, as  unnatural.  But  the  centurion,  as  a  military 
officer,  was  superior  to  the  captain  of  an  Alexandrian 
corn-ship,  and  Paul  had  already  made  his  force  of 
character  so  felt  that  it  is  not  wonderful  that  he  took 
part  in  the  discussion.  Naturally  the  centurion  was 
guided  by  the  professional  rather  than  by  the  amateur 
member  of  the  council,  and  the  decision  was  come  to 
to  push  on  as  far  and  fast  as  possible. 

The  ship  was  lying  in  a  port  which  gave  scanty 
protection  against  the  winter  weather,  and  it  was 
clearly  wise  to  reach  a  more  secure  harbour  if  possible. 
So  when  a  gentle  southerly  breeze  sprang  up,  which 
would  enable  them  to  make  such  a  port,  westward 
from  their  then  position,  they  made  the  attempt.  For 
a  time  it  looked  as  if  they  would  succeed,  but  they 
had  a  great  headland  jutting  out  in  front  which  they 
must  get  round,  and  their  ability  to  do  this  was 
doubtful.  So  they  kept  close  in  shore  and  weathered 
the  point.  But  before  they  had  made  their  harbour 
the  wind  suddenly  chopped  round,  as  is  frequent  off 


:3.50         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvii. 

that  coast,  and  the  gentle  southerly  breeze  turned  into 
a  fierce  squall  from  the  north-east  or  thereabouts, 
sweeping  down  from  the  Cretan  mountains.  That 
began  their  troubles.  To  make  the  port  was  impossible. 
The  unwieldy  vessel  could  not  '  face  the  wind,'  and  so 
they  had  to  run  before  it.  It  would  carry  them  in  a 
south-westerly  direction,  and  towards  a  small  island, 
under  the  lee  of  which  they  might  hope  for  some 
shelter.  Here  they  had  a  little  breathing  time,  and 
could  make  things  rather  more  ship-shape  than  they 
had  been  able  to  do  when  suddenly  caught  by  the 
squall.  Their  boat  had  been  towing  behind  them,  and 
had  to  be  hoisted  on  deck  somehow. 

A  more  important,  and  probably  more  difficult,  task 
was  to  get  strong  hawsers  under  the  keel  and  round 
the  sides,  so  as  to  help  to  hold  the  timbers  together. 
The  third  thing  was  the  most  important  of  all,  and 
has  been  misunderstood  by  commentators  who  knew 
more  about  Greek  lexicons  than  ships.  The  most  likely 
explanation  of  *  lowering  the  gear '  (Rev.  Ver.)  is  that 
it  means  'leaving  up  just  enough  of  sail  to  keep  the 
ship's  head  to  the  wind,  and  bringing  down  every- 
thing else  that  could  be  got  down '  (Ramsay,  St.  Paul, 
p.  329). 

Note  that  Luke  says  '  we '  about  hauling  in  the  boat, 
and  'they'  about  the  other  tasks.  He  and  the  other 
passengers  could  lend  a  hand  in  the  former,  but  not  in 
the  latter,  which  required  more  skilled  labour.  The 
reason  for  bringing  down  all  needless  top-hamper,  and 
leaving  up  a  little  sail,  was  to  keep  the  vessel  from 
driving  on  to  the  great  quicksands  off  the  African 
coast,  to  which  they  would  certainly  have  been  carried 
if  the  wind  held. 

As  soon  as  they  had  drifted  out  from  the  lee  of  the 


vs.  13-26]      TEMPEST  AND  TRUST  351 

friendly  little  island  they  were  caught  again  in  the 
storm.  They  were  in  danger  of  going  down.  As  they 
drifted  they  had  their  'starboard'  broadside  to  the 
force  of  the  wild  sea,  and  it  was  a  question  how  long 
the  vessel's  sides  would  last  before  they  were  stove  in 
by  the  hammering  of  the  waves,  or  how  long  she 
would  be  buoyant  enough  to  ship  seas  without  founder- 
ing. The  only  chance  was  to  lighten  her,  so  first  the 
crew  '  jettisoned '  the  cargo,  and  next  day,  as  that  did 
not  give  relief  enough,  '  they,'  or,  according  to  some 
authorities,  'we' — that  is  passengers  and  all — threw 
everything  possible  overboard. 

That  was  the  last  attempt  to  save  themselves,  and 
after  it  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  wait  the  appar- 
ently inevitable  hour  when  they  would  all  go  down 
together.  Idleness  feeds  despair,  and  despair  nourishes 
idleness.  Food  was  scarce,  cooking  it  was  impossible, 
appetite  there  was  none.  The  doomed  men  spent  the 
long  idle  days — which  were  scarcely  day,  so  thick  was 
the  air  with  mist  and  foam  and  tempest — crouching 
anywhere  for  shelter,  wet,  tired,  hungry,  and  hopeless. 
So  they  drifted  '  for  many  days,'  almost  losing  count 
of  the  length  of  time  they  had  been  thus.  It  was  a 
gloomy  company,  but  there  was  one  man  there  in 
whom  the  lamp  of  hope  burned  when  it  had  gone  out 
in  all  others.  Sun  and  stars  were  hidden,  but  Paul  saw 
a  better  light,  and  his  sky  was  clear  and  calm. 

II.  A  common  danger  makes  short  work  of  distinc- 
tions of  rank.  In  such  a  time  some  hitherto  unnoticed 
man  of  prompt  decision,  resource,  and  confidence, 
will  take  the  command,  whatever  his  position.  Hope, 
as  well  as  timidity  and  fear,  is  infectious,  and  one 
cheery  voice  will  revive  the  drooping  spirits  of  a 
multitude.    Paul  had  already  established  his  personal 


352         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvii. 

ascendency  in  that  motley  company  of  Roman  soldiers, 
prisoners,  sailors,  and  disciples.  Now  he  stands  for- 
ward with  calm  confidence,  and  infuses  new  hope  into 
them  all.  What  a  miraculous  change  passes  on 
externals  when  faith  looks  at  them !  The  circum- 
stances were  the  same  as  they  had  been  for  many 
daj^s.  The  wind  was  howling  and  the  waves  pounding 
as  before,  the  sky  was  black  with  tempest,  and  no  sign 
of  help  was  in  sight,  but  Paul  spoke,  and  all  was 
changed,  and  a  ray  of  sunshine  fell  on  the  wild  waters 
that  beat  on  the  doomed  vessel. 

Three  points  are  conspicuous  in  his  strong  tonic 
words.  First,  there  is  the  confident  assurance  of  safety. 
A  less  noble  nature  would  have  said  more  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  wisdom  of  his  former  advice.  It  is  very 
pleasant  to  small  minds  to  say,  'Did  I  not  tell  you 
so?  You  see  how  right  I  was.'  But  the  Apostle  did 
not  care  for  petty  triumphs  of  that  sort.  A  smaller 
man  might  have  sulked  because  his  advice  had  not 
been  taken,  and  have  said  to  himself, '  They  would  not 
listen  to  me  before,  I  will  hold  my  tongue  now.'  But 
the  Apostle  only  refers  to  his  former  counsel  and  its 
confirmation  in  order  to  induce  acceptance  of  his 
present  words. 

It  is  easy  to  *  bid '  men  *  be  of  good  cheer,'  but  futile 
unless  some  reason  for  good  cheer  is  given.  Paul  gave 
good  reason.  No  man's  life  was  to  be  lost  though  the 
ship  was  to  go.  He  had  previously  predicted  that  life, 
as  well  as  ship  and  lading,  would  be  lost  if  they  put  to 
sea.  That  opinion  was  the  result  of  his  own  calcula- 
tion of  probabilities,  as  he  lets  us  understand  by  saying 
that  he  'perceived'  it  (ver.  10).  Now  he  speaks  with 
authority,  not  from  his  perception,  but  from  God's 
assurance.     The  bold   words   might   well  seem  folly 


vs.  13-26]      TEMPEST  AND  TRUST  353 

to  the  despairing  crew  as  they  caught  them  amidst 
the  roar  of  tempest  and  looked  at  their  battered  hulk. 
So  Paul  goes  at  once  to  tell  the  ground  of  his  con- 
fidence— the  assurance  of  the  angel  of  God. 

What  a  contrast  between  the  furious  gale,  the  almost 
foundering  ship,  the  despair  in  the  hearts  of  the  sleep- 
ing company,  and  the  bright  vision  that  came  to  Paul ! 
Peter  in  prison,  Paul  in  Csesarea  and  now  in  the  storm, 
see  the  angel  form  calm  and  radiant.  God's  messengers 
are  wont  to  come  into  the  darkest  of  our  hours  and  the 
wildest  of  our  tempests. 

Paul's  designation  of  the  heavenly  messenger  as  *  an 
angel  of  the  God  whose  I  am,  whom  also  I  serve,' 
recalls  Jonah's  confession  of  faith,  but  far  surpasses  it, 
in  the  sense  of  belonging  to  God,  and  in  the  ardour  of 
submission  and  of  active  obedience,  expressed  in  it. 
What  Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  vi.  19) 
he  realised  for  himself :  *  Ye  are  not  your  own  ;  for  ye 
were  bought  with  a  price.'  To  recognise  that  we  are 
God's,  joyfully  to  yield  ourselves  to  Him,  and  with  all 
the  forces  of  our  natures  to  serve  Him,  is  to  bring  His 
angel  to  our  sides  in  every  hour  of  tempest  and  peril, 
and  to  receive  assurance  that  nothing  shall  by  any 
means  harm  us.  To  yield  ourselves  to  be  God's  is  to 
make  God  ours.  It  was  because  Paul  owned  that  he 
belonged  to  God,  and  served  Him,  that  the  angel  came 
to  him,  and  he  explains  the  vision  to  his  hearers  by 
his  relation  to  God.  Anything  was  possible  rather 
than  that  his  God  should  leave  him  unhelped  at  such 
an  hour  of  need. 

The  angel's  message  must  have  included  particulars 

unnoticed  in  Luke's  summary;    as,  for  instance,  the 

wreck  on  *  a  certain  island.'    But  the  two  salient  points 

in  it  are  the  certainty  of  Paul's  own  preservation,  that 

VOL.  II.  z 


354        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

the  divine  purpose  of  his  appearing  before  Caesar  might 
be  fulfilled,  and  the  escape  of  all  the  ship's  company. 
As  to  the  former,  we  may  learn  how  Paul's  life,  like 
every  man's,  is  shaped  according  to  a  divine  plan,  and 
how  we  are  '  immortal  till  our  work  is  done,'  and  till 
God  has  done  His  work  in  and  on  and  by  us.  As  to  the 
latter  point,  we  may  gather  from  the  word  *  has  given ' 
the  certainty  that  Paul  had  been  praying  for  the  lives 
of  all  that  sailed  with  him,  and  may  learn,  not  only  that 
the  prayers  of  God's  servants  are  a  real  element  in 
determining  God's  dealings  with  men,  but  that  a 
true  servant  of  God's  will  ever  reach  out  his  desires 
and  widen  his  prayers  to  embrace  those  with  whom  he 
is  brought  into  contact,  be  they  heathens,  persecutors, 
rough  and  careless,  or  fellow-believers.  If  Christian 
people  more  faithfully  discharged  the  duty  of  inter- 
cession, they  would  more  frequently  receive  in  answer 
the  lives  of  '  all  them  that  sail  with '  them  over  the 
stormy  ocean  of  life. 

The  third  point  in  the  Apostle's  encouraging  speech 
is  the  example  of  his  own  faith,  which  is  likewise  an 
exhortation  to  the  hearers  to  exercise  the  same.  If 
God  speaks  by  His  angel  with  such  firm  promises,  man's 
plain  wisdom  is  to  grasp  the  divine  assurance  with  a 
firm  hand.  We  must  build  rock  upon  rock.  '  I  believe 
God,'  that  surely  is  a  credence  demanded  by  common 
sense  and  warranted  by  the  sanest  reason.  If  we  do  so 
believe,  and  take  His  word  as  the  infallible  authority 
revealing  present  duty  and  future  blessings,  then,  how- 
ever lowering  the  sky,  and  wild  the  water,  and  battered 
the  vessel,  and  empty  of  earthly  succour  the  gloomy 
horizon,  and  heavy  our  hearts,  we  shall  'be  of  good 
cheer,'  and  in  due  time  the  event  will  warrant  our 
faith  in  God  and  His  promise,  even  though  all  around 


V.23]  A  SHORT  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  355 

us  seems  to   make   our  faith   folly  and    our    hope  a 
mockery. 


A  SHORT  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH 

' .  .  .  There  stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of  God,  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I 
serve.'— Acts  xxvii.  23. 

I  TURN  especially  to  those  last  words,  'Whose  I  am. 
and  whom  I  serve.' 

A  great  calamity,  borne  by  a  crowd  of  men  in 
common,  has  a  wonderful  power  of  dethroning  officials 
and  bringing  the  strong  man  to  the  front.  So  it  is 
extremely  natural,  though  it  has  been  thought  to  be 
very  unhistorical,  that  in  this  story  of  Paul's  ship- 
wreck he  should  become  guide,  counsellor,  inspirer, 
and  a  tower  of  strength ;  and  that  centurions  and 
captains  and  all  the  rest  of  those  who  held  official 
positions  should  shrink  into  the  background.  The 
natural  force  of  his  character,  the  calmness  and 
serenity  that  came  from  his  faith — these  things  made 
him  the  leader  of  the  bewildered  crowd.  One  can 
scarcely  help  contrasting  this  shipwreck — the  only 
one  in  the  New  Testament — with  that  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Contrast  Jonah  with  Paul,  the  guilty 
stupor  of  the  one,  down  '  in  the  sides  of  the  ship ' 
cowering  before  the  storm,  with  the  calm  behaviour 
and  collected  courage  of  the  other. 

The  vision  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks  does  not 
concern  us  here,  but  in  the  words  which  I  have  read 
there  are  several  noteworthy  points.  They  bring 
vividly  before  us  the  essence  of  true  religion,  the  bold 
confession  which  it  prompts,  and  the  calmness  and 
security  which  it  ensures.  Let  us  then  look  at  them 
from  these  points  of  view. 


356        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxvii. 

I.  We  note  the  clear  setting  forth  of  the  essence  of 
true  religion. 

Remember  that  Paul  is  speaking  to  heathens ;  that 
his  present  purpose  is  not  to  preach  the  Gospel,  but  to 
make  his  own  position  clear.  So  he  says  '  the  God ' — 
never  mind  who  He  is  at  present — '  the  God  to  whom  I 
belong ' — that  covers  all  the  inward  life — '  and  whom  I 
serve ' — that  covers  all  the  outward. 

•  Whose  I  am.'  That  expresses  the  universal  truth 
that  men  belong  to  God  by  virtue  of  their  being  the 
creatures  of  His  hand.  As  the  100th  Psalm  says, 
according  to  one,  and  that  a  probably  correct  reading, 
*  It  is  He  that  hath  made  us,  and  we  are  His.'  But  the 
Apostle  is  going  a  good  deal  deeper  than  any  such 
thoughts,  which  he,  no  doubt,  shared  in  common  with 
the  heathen  men  around  him,  when  he  declares  that, 
in  a  special  fashion,  God  had  claimed  him  for  His,  and 
he  had  yielded  to  the  claim.  'I  am  Thine,'  is  the 
deepest  thought  of  this  man's  mind  and  the  deepest 
feeling  of  his  heart.  And  that  is  godliness  in  its 
purest  form,  the  consciousness  of  belonging  to  God. 
We  must  interpret  this  saying  by  others  of  the 
Apostle's,  such  as,  '  Ye  are  not  your  own,  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price.  Therefore,  glorify  God  in  your 
bodies  and  spirits  which  are  His.'  He  traces  God's 
possession  of  him,  not  to  that  fact  of  creation  (which 
establishes  a  certain  outward  relationship,  but  nothing 
more),  nor  even  to  the  continuous  facts  of  benefits 
showered  upon  his  head,  but  to  the  one  transcen- 
dent act  of  the  divine  Love,  which  gave  itself  to  us, 
and  so  acquired  us  for  itself.  For  we  must  recognise 
as  the  deepest  of  all  thoughts  about  the  relations  of 
spiritual  beings,  that,  as  in  regard  to  ourselves  in  our 
earthly  affections,  so  in  regard  to  our  relations  with 


V.23]  A  SHORT  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  357 

God,  there  is  only  one  way  by  which  a  spirit  can  own 
a  spirit,  whether  it  be  a  man  on  the  one  side  and  a 
woman  on  the  other,  or  whether  it  be  God  on  the  one 
side  and  a  man  on  the  other,  and  that  one  way  is  by 
the  sweetness  of  complete  and  reciprocal  love.  He 
who  gives  himself  to  God  gets  God  for  himself.  So 
when  Paul  said,  •  Whose  I  am,'  he  was  thinking  that 
he  would  never  have  belonged  either  to  God  or  to 
himself  unless,  first  of  all,  God,  in  His  own  Son,  had 
given  Himself  to  Paul.  The  divine  ownership  of  us 
is  only  realised  when  we  are  consciously  His,  because 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Brethren,  God  does  not  count  that  a  man  belongs  to 
Him  simply  because  He  made  him,  if  the  man  does 
not  feel  his  dependence,  his  obligation,  and  has  not 
surrendered  himself.  He  in  the  heavens  loves  you  and 
me  too  well  to  care  for  a  formal  and  external  owner- 
ship. He  desires  hearts,  and  only  they  who  have 
yielded  themselves  unto  God,  moved  thereto  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  and  especially  by  the  encyclopsediacal 
mercy  which  includes  all  the  rest  in  its  sweep,  only 
they  belong  to  Him,  in  the  estimate  of  the  heavens. 

And  if  you  and  I  are  His,  then  that  involves  that 
we  have  deposed  from  his  throne  the  rebel  Self,  the 
ancient  Anarch  that  disturbs  and  ruins  us.  They  who 
belong  to  God  cease  to  live  to  themselves.  There  are 
two  centres  for  human  life,  and  I  believe  there  are 
only  two — the  one  is  God,  the  other  is  my  wretched 
self.  And  if  we  are  swept,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  little 
orbit  that  we  move  in,  when  the  latter  is  our  centre, 
and  are  drawn  by  the  weight  and  mass  of  the  great 
central  sun  to  become  its  satellites,  then  we  move  in  a 
nobler  orbit  and  receive  fuller  and  more  blessed  light 
and  warmth.    They  who  have  themselves  for  their 


358         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

centres  are  like  comets,  with  a  wide  elliptical  course, 
which  carries  them  away  out  into  the  cold  abysses  of 
darkness.  They  who  have  God  for  their  sun  are  like 
planets.  The  old  fable  is  true  of  these  '  sons  of  the 
morning' — they  make  music  as  they  roll  and  they 
flash  back  His  light. 

And  then  do  not  let  us  forgot  that  this  yielding  of 
one's  self  to  Him,  swayed  by  His  love,  and  this  sur- 
rendering of  will  and  purpose  and  affection  and  all 
that  makes  up  our  complex  being,  lead  directly  to 
the  true  possession  of  Him  and  the  true  possession  of 
ourselves. 

I  have  said  that  the  only  way  by  which  spirit 
possesses  spirit  is  by  love,  and  that  it  must  needs  be 
on  both  sides.  So  we  get  God  for  ourselves  when  we 
give  ourselves  to  God.  There  is  a  wonderful  alterna- 
tion of  giving  and  receiving  between  the  loving  God 
and  his  beloved  lovers ;  first  the  impartation  of  the 
divine  to  the  human,  then  the  surrender  of  the 
human  to  the  divine,  and  then  the  larger  gift  of  God 
to  man,  just  as  in  some  series  of  mirrors  the  light  is 
flashed  back  from  the  one  to  the  other,  in  bewildering 
manifoldness  and  shimmering  of  rays  from  either 
polished  surface.  God  is  ours  when  we  are  God's. 
'  And  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them 
after  these  days,  saith  the  Lord.  I  will  be  their  God, 
and  they  shall  be  My  people.' 

And,  in  like  manner,  we  never  own  ourselves  until  we 
have  given  ourselves  to  God.  Each  of  us  is  like  some 
feudatory  prince,  dependent  upon  an  overlord.  His 
subjects  in  his  little  territory  rebel,  and  he  has  no 
power  to  subdue  the  insurgents,  but  he  can  send  a 
message  to  the  capital,  and  get  the  army  of  the  king, 
who  is  his  sovereign  and  theirs,  to  come  down  and 


V.23]  A  SHORT  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  359 

bring  them  back  to  order,  and  establish  his  tottering 
throne.  So  if  you  desire  to  own  yourself  or  to  know  the 
sweetness  that  you  may  get  out  of  your  own  nature 
and  the  exercise  of  your  powers,  if  you  desire  to  be 
able  to  govern  the  realm  within,  put  yourself  into 
God's  hands  and  say,  '  I  am  Thine ;  hold  Thou  me  up, 
and  I  shall  be  safe.' 

I  need  not  say  more  than  just  a  word  about  the 
other  side  of  Paul's  confession  of  faith,  '  Whom  I 
serve.'  He  employs  the  word  which  means  the  service 
of  a  worshipper,  or  even  of  a  priest,  and  not  that 
which  means  the  service  of  a  slave.  His  purpose  was 
to  represent  how,  as  his  whole  inward  nature  bowed 
in  submission  to,  and  was  under  the  influence  of,  God 
to  whom  he  belonged,  so  his  whole  outward  life  was  a 
life  of  devotion.  He  was  serving  Him  there  in  the 
ship,  amidst  the  storm  and  the  squalor  and  the  terror. 
His  calmness  was  service ;  his  confidence  was  service ; 
the  cheery  words  that  he  was  speaking  to  these  people 
were  service.  And  on  his  whole  life  he  believed  that 
this  was  stamped,  that  he  was  devoted  to  God,  So 
there  is  the  true  idea  of  a  Christian  life,  that  in  all  its 
aspects,  attitudes,  and  acts  it  is  to  be  a  manifestation, 
in  visible  form,  of  inward  devotion  to,  and  ownership 
by,  God.  All  our  work  may  be  worship,  and  we  may 
'  pray  without  ceasing,'  though  no  supplications  come 
from  our  lips,  if  our  hearts  are  in  touch  with  Him 
and  through  our  daily  life  we  serve  and  honour  Him. 
God's  priests  never  are  far  away  from  their  altar,  and 
never  are  without,  somewhat  to  offer,  as  long  as  they 
have  the  activities  of  daily  duty  and  the  difficulties  of 
daily  conflict  to  bring  to  Him  and  spread  before  Him. 

II.  So  let  me  turn  for  a  moment  to  some  of  the 
other  aspects  of  these  words  to  which  I  have  already 


360        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

referred.  I  find  in  them,  next,  the  bold  confession 
which  true  religion  requires. 

Shipboard  is  a  place  where  people  find  out  one 
another  very  quickly.  Character  cannot  well  be  hid 
there.  And  such  circumstances  as  Paul  had  been  in 
for  the  last  fortnight,  tossing  up  and  down  in  Adria, 
with  Death  looking  over  the  bulwarks  of  the  crazy 
ship  every  moment,  were  certain  to  have  brought  out 
the  inmost  secrets  of  character.  Paul  durst  not  have 
said  to  these  people  '  the  God  whose  I  am  and  whom  I 
*  serve '  if  he  had  not  known  that  he  had  been  living  day 
by  day  a  consistent  and  godly  life  amongst  them. 

And  so,  I  note,  first  of  all,  that  this  confession  of  in- 
dividual and  personal  relationship  to  God  is  incumbent 
on  every  Christian.  We  do  not  need  to  be  always 
brandishing  it  before  people's  faces.  There  is  very  little 
fear  of  the  average  Christian  of  this  day  blundering 
on  that  side.  But  we  need,  still  less,  to  be  always 
hiding  it  away.  One  hears  a  great  deal  from  certain 
quarters  about  a  religion  that  does  not  need  to  be 
vocal  but  shows  what  it  is,  without  the  necessity  for 
words.  Blessed  be  God !  there  is  such  a  religion,  but 
you  will  generally  find  that  the  people  who  have  most 
of  it  are  the  people  who  are  least  tongue-tied  when 
opportunity  arises ;  and  that  if  they  have  been  wit- 
nessing for  God  in  their  quiet  discharge  of  duty,  with 
their  hands  instead  of  their  lips,  they  are  quite  as 
ready  to  witness  with  their  lips  when  it  is  fitting  that 
they  should  do  so.  And  surely,  surely,  if  a  man 
belongs  to  God,  and  if  his  whole  life  is  to  be  the 
manifestation  of  the  ownership  that  he  recognises, 
that  which  specially  reveals  him — viz.,  his  own  artic- 
ulate speech — cannot  be  left  out  of  his  methods  of 
manifestation. 


V.23]  A  SHORT  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  361 

I  am  afraid  that  there  are  a  great  many  professing 
Christian  people  nowadays  who  never,  all  their  lives, 
have  said  to  any  one, '  The  God  whose  I  am  and  whom 
I  serve.'  And  I  beseech  you,  dear  brethren,  suffer  this 
word  of  exhortation.  To  say  so  is  a  far  more  effectual, 
or  at  least  more  powerful,  means  of  appeal  than  any 
direct  invitation  to  share  in  the  blessings.  You  may 
easily  offend  a  man  by,  saying  to  him,  •  Won't  you  be  a 
Christian  too  ? '  But  it  is  hard  to  offend  if  you  simply 
say  that  you  are  a  Christian.  The  statement  of  per- 
sonal experience  is  more  powerful  by  far  than  all 
argumentation  or  eloquence  or  pleading  appeals.  We 
do  more  when  we  say,  'That  which  we  have  tasted 
and  felt  and  handled  of  the  Word  of  Life,  declare  we 
unto  you,'  than  by  any  other  means. 

Only  remember  that  the  avowal  must  be  backed  up 
by  a  life,  as  Paul's  was  backed  up  on  board  that  vessel. 
For  unless  it  is  so,  the  profession  does  far  more  harm 
than  good.  There  are  always  keen  critics  round  us, 
especially  if  we  say  that  we  are  Christians.  There  were 
keen  critics  on  board  that  ship.  Do  you  think  that  these 
Roman  soldiers,  and  the  other  prisoners,  would  not 
have  smiled  contemptuously  at  Paul,  if  this  had  been 
the  first  time  that  they  had  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
he  was  at  all  different  from  them  ?  They  would  have 
said,  'The  God  whose  you  are  and  whom  you  serve? 
Why,  you  are  just  the  same  sort  of  man  as  if  you 
worshipped  Jupiter  like  the  rest  of  us ! '  And  that  is 
what  the  world  has  a  right  to  say  to  Christian  people. 
The  clearer  our  profession,  the  holier  must  be  our 
lives. 

III.  Last  of  all,  I  find  in  these  words  the  calmness 
and  security  which  true  religion  secures. 

The  story,  as  I  have  already  glanced  at  it  in  my 


362         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

introductory  remarks,  brings  out  very  wonderfully 
and  very  beautifully  Paul's  promptitude,  his  calmness 
in  danger,  his  absolute  certainty  of  safety,  and  his  un- 
selfish thoughtfulness  about  his  companions  in  peril. 
And  all  these  things  were  the  direct  results  of  his 
entire  surrender  to  God,  and  of  the  consistency  of  his 
daily  life.  It  needed  the  angel  in  the  vision  to  assure 
him  that  his  life  would  be  spared.  But  whether  the 
angel  had  ever  come  or  not,  and  though  death  had 
been  close  at  his  hand,  the  serenity  and  the  peaceful 
assurance  of  safety  which  come  out  so  beautifully  in 
the  story  would  have  been  there  all  the  same.  The 
man  who  can  say  '  I  belong  to  God '  does  not  need 
to  trouble  himself  about  dangers.  He  will  have  to 
exercise  his  common  sense,  as  the  Apostle  shows  us ; 
he  will  have  to  use  all  the  means  that  are  in  his  power 
for  the  accomplishment  of  ends  that  he  knows  to  be 
right  and  legitimate.  But  having  done  all  that,  he  can 
say,  '  I  belong  to  Him,'  it  is  His  business  to  look  after 
His  own  property.  He  is  not  going  to  hold  His  posses- 
sions with  such  a  slack  hand  as  that  they  shall  slip 
between  His  fingers,  and  be  lost  in  the  mire.  '  Thou  wilt 
not  lose  the  souls  that  are  Thine  in  the  grave,  neither 
wilt  Thou  suffer  the  man  whom  Thou  lovest  to  see 
corruption.'  God  keeps  His  treasures,  and  the  surer 
we  are  that  He  is  able  to  keep  them  unto  that  day,  the 
calmer  we  may  be  in  all  our  trouble. 

And  the  safety  that  followed  was  also  the  direct  re- 
sult of  the  relationship  of  mutual  possession  and  love 
established  between  God  and  the  Apostle.  We  do  not 
know  to  which  of  the  two  groups  of  the  shipwrecked 
Paul  belonged;  whether  he  could  swim  or  whether 
he  had  to  hold  on  to  some  bit  of  floating  wreckage  or 
other,  and  so  got  *  safe  to  land.'    But  whichever  way  it 


V.23]  A  TOTAL  WRECK  363 

was,  it  was  neither  his  swimming  nor  the  spar  to 
which,  perhaps,  he  clung,  that  landed  him  safe  on  shore. 
It  was  the  God  to  whom  he  belonged.  Faith  is  the 
true  lifebelt  that  keeps  us  from  being  drowned  in 
any  stormy  sea.  And  if  you  and  I  feel  that  we  are 
His,  and  live  accordingly,  we  shall  be  calm  amid  all 
change,  serene  when  others  are  troubled,  ready  to  be 
helpers  of  others  even  when  wo  ourselves  are  in  dis- 
tress. And  when  the  crash  comes,  and  the  ship  goes  to 
pieces :  '  so  it  will  come  to  pass  that,  some  on  boards, 
and  some  on  broken  pieces  of  the  ship,  they  all  come 
safe  to  land,'  and  when  the  Owner  counts  His  subjects 
and  possessions  on  the  quiet  shore,  as  the  morning 
breaks,  there  will  not  be  one  who  has  been  lost  in  the 
surges,  or  whose  name  will  be  unanswered  to  when 
the  muster-roll  of  the  crew  is  called. 


A  TOTAL  WRECK,  ALL  HANDS  SAVED 

'  And  as  the  shipmen  were  about  to  flee  out  of  the  ship,  when  they  had  let  down 
the  boat  into  the  sea,  under  colour  as  though  they  would  have  cast  anchors  out 
of  the  foreship,  31.  Paul  said  to  the  centurion  and  to  the  soldiers,  Except  these 
abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved.  32.  Then  the  soldiers  cut  off  the  ropes 
of  the  boat,  and  let  her  fall  oflF.  33.  And  while  the  day  was  coming  on,  Paul 
besought  thcni  all  to  take  meat,  saying.  This  day  is  the  fourteenth  day  that  ye 
have  tarried  and  continued  fasting,  having  taken  nothing.  34.  Wherefore  I  pray 
you  to  take  some  meat ;  for  this  is  for  your  health ;  for  there  shall  not  an  hair 
fall  from  the  head  of  any  of  you.  3,9.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  took 
bread,  and  gave  thanks  to  God  in  presence  of  them  all ;  and  when  he  had  broken 
it,  he  began  to  eat.  36.  Then  were  they  all  of  good  cheer,  and  they  also  took  some 
meat.  37.  And  we  were  in  all  in  the  ship  two  hundred  threescore  and  sixteen 
souls.  38.  And  when  they  had  eaten  enough,  they  lightened  the  ship,  and  cast 
out  the  wheat  into  the  sea.  39.  And  when  it  was  day,  they  knew  not  the  land; 
but,  they  discovered  a  certain  creek  with  a  shore,  into  the  which  they  were 
minded,  if  it  were  possible,  to  thrust  in  the  ship.  id.  And  when  they  had  taken 
up  the  anchors,  they  committed  themselves  unto  the  sea,  and  loosed  the  rudder, 
bands,  and  hoised  up  the  main-sail  to  the  wind,  and  made  toward  shore.  41.  And 
falling  into  a  place  where  two  seas  met,  they  ran  the  ship  aground :  and  the  fore 
part  stuck  fast,  and  remained  unmoveable,  but  the  hinder  part  was  broken  with 
the  violence  of  the  waves.  42.  And  the  soldiers'  counsel  was  to  kill  the  prisoners, 
lest  any  of  them  should  swim  out,  and  escape.  43.  But  the  centurion,  willing  to 
save  Paul,  kept  them  from  their  purpose :  and  commanded  that  they  wbicb  could 


364        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

swim  should  cast  themselves  first  into  the  sea,  and  get  to  land ;  44.  And  the  rest, 
some  on  boards,  and  some  on  broken  pieces  of  the  ship.  And  so  it  came  to  pass, 
that  they  escaped  all  safe  to  land.'— Acts  xxvii.  3044. 

The  Jews  were  not  seafaring  people.  Their  coast 
had  no  safe  harbours,  and  they  seldom  ventured  on 
the  Mediterranean.  To  find  Paul  in  a  ship  with  its 
bow  pointed  westwards  is  significant.  It  tells  of  the 
expansion  of  Judaism  into  a  world-wide  religion,  and 
of  the  future  course  of  Christianity.  The  only  Old 
Testament  parallel  is  Jonah,  and  the  dissimilarities 
of  the  two  incidents  are  as  instructive  as  are  their 
resemblances. 

This  minute  narrative  is  evidently  the  work  of 
one  of  the  passengers  who  knew  a  good  deal  about 
nautical  matters.  It  reads  like  a  log-book.  But  as 
James  Smith  has  well  noted  in  his  interesting  mono- 
graph on  the  chapter,  the  writer's  descriptions,  though 
accurate,  are  unprofessional,  thus  confirming  Luke's 
authorship.  Where  had  the  '  beloved  physician'  learned 
so  much  about  the  sea  and  ships?  Did  the  great 
galleys  carry  surgeons  as  now?  At  all  events  the 
story  is  one  of  the  most  graphic  accounts  ever  written. 
This  narrative  begins  when  the  doomed  ship  has  cast 
anchor,  with  a  rocky  coast  close  under  her  lee.  The 
one  question  is.  Will  the  four  anchors  hold?  No 
wonder  that  the  passengers  longed  for  daylight ! 

The  first  point  is  the  crew's  dastardly  trick  to  save 
themselves,  frustrated  by  Paul's  insight  and  prompti- 
tude. The  pretext  for  getting  into  the  boat  was 
specious.  Anchoring  by  the  bow  as  well  as  by  the 
stern  would  help  to  keep  the  ship  from  driving  ashore ; 
and  if  once  the  crew  were  in  the  boat  and  pulled 
as  far  as  was  necessary  to  lay  out  the  anchors,  it 
would  be  easy,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  to  make 


vs.  30-44]  A  TOTAL  WRECK  365 

good  their  escape  on  shore  and  leave  the  landsmen 
on  board  to  shift  for  themselves.  The  boat  must  have 
been  of  considerable  size  to  hold  the  crew  of  so  large 
a  ship.  It  was  already  lying  alongside,  and  lands- 
men would  not  suspect  what  lay  under  the  apparently 
brave  attempt  to  add  to  the  vessel's  security,  but 
Paul  did  so.  His  practical  sagacity  was  as  conspicuous 
a  trait  as  his  lofty  enthusiasm.  Common  sense  need 
not  be  divorced  from  high  aims  or  from  the  intensest 
religious  self-devotion.  The  idealist  beat  the  practical 
centurion  in  penetrating  the  sailors'  scheme. 

That  must  have  been  a  great  nature  which  combined 
such  different  characteristics  as  the  Apostle  shows. 
Unselfish  devotion  is  often  wonderfully  clear-sighted 
as  to  the  workings  of  its  opposite.  The  Apostle's 
promptitude  is  as  noticeable  as  his  penetration.  He 
wastes  no  time  in  remonstrance  with  the  cowards, 
who  would  have  been  over  the  side  and  off  in  the 
dark  while  he  talked,  but  goes  straight  to  the  man 
in  authority.  Note,  too,  that  he  keeps  his  place  as 
a  prisoner.  It  is  not  his  business  to  suggest  what  is 
to  be  done.  That  might  have  been  resented  as  pre- 
sumptuous ;  but  he  has  a  right  to  point  out  the  danger, 
and  he  leaves  the  centurion  to  settle  how  to  meet  it. 
Significantly  does  he  say  'ye,'  not  'we.'  He  was 
perfectly  certain  that  he  'must  be  brought  before 
Cffisar';  and  though  he  believed  that  all  on  board 
would  escape,  he  seems  to  regard  his  own  safety  as 
even  more  certain  than  that  of  the  others. 

The  lesson  often  drawn  from  his  words  is  rightly 
drawn.  They  imply  the  necessity  of  men's  action  in 
order  to  carry  out  God's  purpose.  The  whole  shipful 
are  to  be  saved,  but '  except  these  abide  ...  ye  cannot 
be  saved.'    The   belief  that  God  wills  anything  is  a 


yG6        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

reason  for  using  all  means  to  effect  it,  not  for  folding 
our  hands  and  saying,  '  God  will  do  it,  whether  we 
do  anything  or  not.'  The  line  between  fatalism  and 
Christian  reliance  on  God's  will  is  clearly  drawn  in 
Paul's  words. 

Note  too  the  prompt,  decisive  action  of  the  soldiers. 
They  waste  no  words,  nor  do  they  try  to  secure  the 
sailors,  but  out  with  their  knives  and  cut  the  tow-rope, 
and  away  into  the  darkness  drifts  the  boat.  It  might 
have  been  better  to  have  kept  it,  as  affording  a  chance 
of  safety  for  all ;  but  probably  it  was  wisest  to  get  rid 
of  it  at  once.  Many  times  in  every  life  it  is  necessary 
to  sacrifice  possible  advantages  in  order  to  secure  a 
more  necessary  good.  The  boat  has  to  be  let  go  if  the 
passengers  in  the  ship  are  to  be  saved.  Misused  good 
things  have  sometimes  to  be  given  up  in  order  to  keep 
people  from  temptation. 

The  next  point  brings  Paul  again  to  the  front.  In 
the  night  he  had  been  the  saviour  of  the  whole  ship- 
load of  people.  Now  as  the  twilight  is  beginning,  and 
the  time  for  decisive  action  will  soon  be  here  with 
the  day,  he  becomes  their  encourager  and  counsellor. 
Again  his  saving  common  sense  is  shown.  He  knew 
that  the  moment  for  intense  struggle  was  at  hand, 
and  so  he  prepares  them  for  it  by  getting  them  to 
eat  a  substantial  breakfast.  It  was  because  of  his 
faith  that  he  did  so.  His  religion  did  not  lead  him 
to  do  as  some  people  would  have  done— begin  to  talk 
to  the  soldiers  about  their  souls — but  he  looked  after 
their  bodies.  Hungry,  wet,  sleepless,  they  were  in  no 
condition  to  scramble  through  the  surf,  and  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  get  some  food  into  them. 
Of  course  he  does  not  mean  that  they  had  eaten 
absolutely  nothing  for  a  fortnight,  but  only  that  they 


vs.  30-44]  A  TOTAL  WRECK  367 

had  had  scanty  nourishment.  But  Paul's  religion  went 
harmoniously  with  his  care  for  men's  bodies.  He 
•gave  thanks  to  God  in  presence  of  them  all';  and 
who  shall  say  that  that  prayer  did  not  touch  hearts 
more  deeply  than  religious  talk  would  have  done? 
Paul's  calmness  would  be  contagious ;  and  the  root  of 
it,  in  his  belief  in  what  his  God  had  told  him,  would 
be  impressively  manifested  to  all  on  board.  Moods 
are  infectious;  so  'they  were  all  of  good  cheer,'  and 
no  doubt  things  looked  less  black  after  a  hearty  meal. 

A  little  point  may  be  noticed  here,  namely,  the 
naturalness  of  the  insertion  of  the  numbers  on  board 
at  this  precise  place  in  the  narrative.  There  would 
probably  be  a  muster  of  all  hands  for  the  meal,  and 
in  view  of  the  approaching  scramble,  in  order  that, 
if  they  got  to  shore,  there  might  be  certainty  as  to 
whether  any  were  lost.  So  here  the  numbers  come  in. 
They  were  still  not  without  hope  of  saving  the  ship, 
though  Paul  had  told  them  it  would  be  lost;  and  so 
they  jettison  the  cargo  of  wheat  from  Alexandria. 
By  this  time  it  is  broad  day  and  something  must  be 
done. 

The  next  point  is  the  attempt  to  beach  the  vessel. 
*They  knew  not  the  land,'  that  is,  the  part  of  the 
coast  where  they  had  been  driven ;  but  they  saw  that, 
while  for  the  most  part  it  was  iron-bound,  there 
was  a  shelving  sandy  bay  at  one  point  on  to  which 
it  might  be  possible  to  run  her  ashore.  The  Revised 
Version  gives  a  much  more  accurate  and  seaman- 
like account  than  the  Authorised  Version  does.  The 
anchors  were  not  taken  on  board,  but  to  save  time 
and  trouble  were  'left  in  the  sea,'  the  cables  being 
simply  cut.  The  'rudder-bands' — that  is,  the  lashings 
which  had  secured  the  two  paddle-like  rudders,  one 


368        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvii. 

on  either  beam,  which  had  been  tied  up  to  be  out  of 
the  way  when  the  stern  anchors  were  put  out — are 
loosed,  and  the  rudders  drop  into  place.  The  foresail 
(not  '  mainsail,'  as  the  Authorised  Version  has  it)  is  set 
to  help  to  drive  the  ship  ashore.  It  is  all  exactly  what 
we  should  expect  to  be  done. 

But  an  unexpected  difficulty  met  the  attempt,  which 
is  explained  by  the  lie  of  the  coast  at  St.  Paul's  Bay, 
Malta,  as  James  Smith  fully  describes  in  his  book. 
A  little  island,  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a 
channel  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  yards  in 
breadth,  lies  off  the  north-east  point  of  the  bay,  and 
to  a  beholder  at  the  entrance  to  the  bay  looks  as  if 
continuous  with  it.  When  the  ship  got  farther  in, 
they  would  see  the  narrow  channel,  through  which 
a  strong  current  sets  and  makes  a  considerable  dis- 
turbance as  it  meets  the  run  of  the  water  in  the  bay. 
A  bank  of  mud  has  been  formed  at  the  point  of 
meeting.  Thus  not  only  the  water  shoals,  but  the 
force  of  the  current  through  the  narrows  would  hinder 
the  ship  from  getting  past  it  to  the  beach.  The  two 
things  together  made  her  ground,  •  stem  on '  to  the 
bank;  and  then,  of  course,  the  heavy  sea  running  into 
the  bay,  instead  of  helping  her  to  the  shore,  began  to 
break  up  the  stern  which  was  turned  towards  it. 

Common  peril  makes  beasts  of  prey  and  their  usual 
victims  crouch  together.  Benefits  received  touch 
generous  hearts.  But  the  legionaries  on  board  had 
no  such  sentiments.  Paul's  helpfulness  was  forgotten. 
A  still  more  ignoble  exhibition  of  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  than  the  sailors  had  shown  dictated 
that  cowardly,  cruel  suggestion  to  kill  the  prisoners. 
Brutal  indifference  to  human  life,  and  Rome's  iron 
discipline  holding  terror  over  the  legionaries'  heads, 


vs.  30-44]  A  TOTAL  WRECK  369 

are  vividly  illustrated  in  the  *  counsel.'  So  were  Paul's 
kindnesses  requited !  It  is  hard  to  melt  rude  natures 
even  by  kindness;  and  if  Paul  had  been  looking  for 
gratitude  he  would  have  been  disappointed,  as  we  so 
often  are.  But  if  we  do  good  to  men  because  we 
expect  requital,  even  in  thankfulness,  we  are  not  pure 
in  motive.  'Looking  for  nothing  again'  is  the  spirit 
enforced  by  God's  pattern  and  by  experience. 

The  centurion  had  throughout,  like  most  of  his 
fellows  in  Scripture,  been  kindly  disposed,  and  showed 
more  regard  for  Paul  than  the  rank  and  file  did. 
He  displays  the  good  side  of  militarism,  while  they 
show  its  bad  side ;  for  he  is  collected,  keeps  his  head 
in  extremities,  knows  his  own  mind,  holds  the  reins  in 
a  firm  hand,  even  in  that  supreme  moment,  has  a 
quick  eye  to  see  what  must  be  done,  and  decision  to 
order  it  at  once.  It  was  prudent  to  send  first  those 
who  could  swim;  they  could  then  help  the  others. 
The  distance  was  short,  and  as  the  bow  was  aground, 
there  would  be  some  shelter  under  the  lee  of  the 
vessel,  and  shoal  water,  where  they  could  wade,  would 
be  reached  in  a  few  minutes  or  moments. 

*  And  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  they  all  escaped  safe 
to  the  land.'  So  Paul  had  assured  them  they  would. 
God  needs  no  miracles  in  order  to  sway  human  affairs. 
Everything  here  was  perfectly  'natural,'  and  yet  His 
hand  wrought  through  all,  and  the  issue  was  His 
fulfilment  of  His  promises.  If  we  rightly  look  at 
common  things,  we  shall  see  God  working  in  them 
all,  and  believe  that  He  can  deliver  us  as  truly  without 
miracles  as  ever  He  did  any  by  miracles.  Promptitude, 
prudence,  skill,  and  struggle  with  the  waves,  saved 
the  whole  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  souls  in  that 
battered  ship ;  yet  it  was  God  who  saved  them  all. 
VOL.  II.  2  A 


370        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxviii. 

Whether  Paul  was  among  the  party  that  could  swim, 
or  among  the  more  helpless  who  had  to  cling  to  any- 
thing that  would  float,  he  was  held  up  by  God's  hand, 
and  it  was  He  who  'sent  from  above,  took  him,  and 
drew  him  out  of  many  waters.' 


AFTER  THE  WRECK 

'  And  when  they  were  escaped,  then  they  knew  that  the  island  was  called 
]\rellta.  2.  And  the  barbarous  people  showed  us  no  little  kindness :  for  they 
kindled  a  fire,  and  received  us  every  one,  because  of  the  present  rain,  and  because 
of  the  cold.  3.  And  when  Paul  had  gathered  a  bundle  of  sticks,  and  laid  them 
on  the  fire,  there  came  a  viper  out  of  the  heat,  and  fastened  on  his  hand.  i.  And 
when  the  barbarians  saw  the  venomous  beast  hang  on  his  hand,  they  said  among 
themselves,  No  doubt  this  man  is  a  murderer,  whom,  though  he  hath  escaped  the 
sea,  yet  vengeance  suft'ereth  not  to  live.  5.  And  he  shook  off  the  beast  into  the 
fire,  and  felt  no  harm.  6.  Howbeit  they  looked  when  he  should  have  swollen,  or 
fallen  down  dead  suddenly :  but  after  they  had  looked  a  great  while,  and  saw  no 
harm  come  to  him,  they  changed  their  minds,  and  said  that  he  was  a  god.  7.  In 
the  same  quarters  were  possessions  of  the  chief  man  of  the  island,  whose  name 
was  Publius  ;  who  received  us,  and  lodged  us  three  days  courteously.  8.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  that  the  father  of  Publius  lay  sick  of  a  fever,  and  of  a  bloody 
flux:  to  whom  Paul  entered  in,  and  prayed,  and  laid  his  hands  on  him,  and 
healed  him.  9.  So  when  this  was  done,  others  also,  which  had  diseases  in  the 
island,  came,  and  were  healed :  10.  Who  also  honoured  us  with  many  honours ; 
and  when  we  departed,  they  laded  us  with  such  things  as  were  necessary.  11. 
And  after  three  months  we  departed  in  a  ship  of  Alexandria,  which  had  win- 
tered in  the  isle,  whose  sign  was  Castor  imd  Pollux.  12.  And  landing  at  Syracuse, 
we  tarried  there  three  days.  13.  And  from  thence  we  fetched  a  compass,  and 
came  to  Rhegium  :  and  after  one  day  the  south  wind  blew,  and  we  came  the 
next  day  to  Puteoli ;  14.  Where  we  found  brethren,  and  were  desired  to  tarry 
with  them  seven  days:  and  so  we  went  toward  Rome.  15.  And  from  thence, 
when  the  brethren  heard  of  us,  they  came  to  meet  us  as  far  as  Appii  Forum, 
and  The  three  taverns :  whom  when  Paul  saw,  he  thanked  God,  and  took 
courage.  16.  And  when  we  came  to  Rome,  the  centurion  delivered  the  prisoners 
to  the  captain  of  the  guard:  but  Paul  was  suffered  to  dwell  by  himself  with  a 
soldier  that  kept  him.'— Acts  xxviii.  1-16, 

'They  all  escaped  safe  to  land,'  says  Luke  with 
emphasis,  pointing  to  the  verification  of  Paul's  assur- 
ance that  there  should  be  no  loss  of  life.  That  two 
hundred  and  seventy-six  men  on  a  wreck  should  all  be 
saved  was  very  improbable,  but  the  angel  had  promised, 
and  Paul  had  believed  that  it  should  be  'even  so  as  it 
had  been  spoken  unto  him.'  Therefore  the  improbable 
came  to  pass,  and  every  man  of  the  ship's  company 


vs.  1-16]         AFTER  THE  WRECK  371 

stood  safe  on  the  shore.  Faith  which  grasps  God's 
promise  '  laughs  at  impossibilities '  and  brings  them 
into  the  region  of  facts. 

Wet,  cold,  weary,  and  anxious,  the  rescued  men 
huddled  together  on  the  shore  in  the  early  morning,  and 
no  doubt  they  were  doubtful  what  reception  they  would 
have  from  the  islanders  who  had  been  attracted  to  the 
beach.  Their  first  question  was,  'Where  are  we?'  so 
completely  had  they  lost  their  reckoning.  Some  of  the 
inhabitants  could  speak  Greek  or  Latin,  and  could  tell 
them  that  they  were  on  Melita,  but  the  most  part  of 
the  crowd  that  came  round  them  could  only  speak  in  a 
tongue  strange  to  Luke,  and  are  therefore  called  by 
him  'barbarians,'  not  as  being  uncivilised,  but  as  not 
speaking  Greek.  But  they  could  speak  the  eloquent 
language  of  kindness  and  pity.  They  were  heathens, 
but  they  were  men.  They  had  not  come  down  to  the 
wreck  for  plunder,  as  might  have  been  feared,  but  to 
help  the  unfortunates  who  were  shivering  on  the  beach 
in  the  downpour  of  rain,  and  chilled  to  the  bone  by 
exposure. 

As  always,  Paul  fills  Luke's  canvas ;  the  other  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  were  ciphers.  Two  incidents, 
in  which  the  Apostle  appears  as  protected  by  God  from 
danger,  and  as  a  fountain  of  healing  for  others,  are  all 
that  is  told  of  the  three  months'  stay  in  Malta.  Taken 
together,  these  cover  the  whole  ground  of  the 
Christian's  place  in  the  world ;  he  is  an  object  of 
divine  care,  he  is  a  medium  of  divine  blessing.  In  the 
former  one,  we  see  in  Paul's  activity  in  gathering  his 
bundle  of  brushwood  an  example  of  how  he  took  the 
humblest  duties  on  himself,  and  was  not  hindered 
either  by  the  false  sense  of  dignity  which  keeps  smaller 
men  from  doing  small  things,  as  Chinese  gentlemen 


372        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxviii. 

pride  themselves  on  long  nails  as  a  token  that  they  do 
no  work,  or  by  the  helplessness  in  practical  matters 
which  is  sometimes  natural  to,  and  often  affected  by, 
men  of  genius,  from  taking  his  share  in  common 
duties. 

The  shipwreck  took  place  in  November  probably, 
and  the  '  viper '  had  curled  itself  up  for  its  winter  sleep, 
and  had  been  lifted  with  the  twigs  by  Paul's  hasty 
hand.  Roused  by  the  warmth,  it  darted  at  Paul's 
hand  before  it  could  be  withdrawn,  and  fixed  its  fangs. 
The  sight  of  it  dangling  there  excited  suspicions  in  the 
mind  of  the  natives,  who  would  know  that  Paul  was  a 
prisoner,  and  so  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was 
a  murderer  pursued  by  the  Goddess  of  Justice.  These 
rude  islanders  had  consciences,  which  bore  witness  to  a 
divine  law  of  retribution. 

However  mistaken  may  be  heathens'  conceptions  of 
what  constitutes  right  and  wrong,  they  all  know  that 
it  is  wrong  to  do  wrong,  and  the  dim  anticipation  of 
God-inflicted  punishment  is  in  their  hearts.  The  swift 
change  of  opinion  about  Paul  is  like,  though  it  is  the 
reverse  of,  what  the  people  of  Lystra  thought  of  him. 
They  first  took  him  for  a  god,  and  then  for  a  criminal, 
worshipping  him  to-day  and  stoning  him  to-morrow. 
This  teaches  us  how  unworthy  the  heathen  conception 
of  a  deity  is,  and  how  lightly  the  name  was  given.  It 
may  teach  us  too  how  fickle  and  easily  led  popular 
judgments  are,  and  how  they  are  ever  prone  to  rush 
from  one  extreme  to  another,  so  that  the  people's  idol 
of  one  week  is  their  abhorrence  the  next,  and  the 
applause  and  execration  are  equally  undeserved. 
These  Maltese  critics  did  what  many  of  us  are  doing 
with  less  excuse — arguing  as  to  men's  merits  from 
their  calamities  or  successes.    A  good  man  may  be 


vs.  1-16]         AFTER  THE  WRECK  373 

stung  by  a  serpent  in  the  act  of  doing  a  good  thing ; 
that  does  not  prove  him  to  be  a  monster.  He  may  be 
unhurt  by  what  seems  fatal ;  that  does  not  prove  him 
to  be  a  god  or  a  saint. 

The  other  incident  recorded  as  occurring  in  Malta 
brings  out  the  Christian's  relation  to  others  as  a 
source  of  healing.  An  interesting  incidental  proof 
of  Luke's  accuracy  is  found  in  the  fact  that  inscrip- 
tions discovered  in  Malta  show  that  the  official 
title  of  the  governor  was  'First  of  the  Melitseans.' 
The  word  here  rendered  •  chief '  is  literally  '  first.' 
Luke's  precision  is  shown  in  another  direction  in  his 
diagnosis  of  the  diseases  of  Publius's  father,  which 
are  described  by  technical  medical  terms.  The  heal- 
ing seems  to  have  been  unasked.  Paul  '  went  in,' 
as  if  from  a  spontaneous  wish  to  render  help.  There 
is  no  record  of  any  expectation  or  request  from 
Publius. 

Christians  are  to  be  '  like  the  dew  on  the  grass, 
which  waiteth  not  for  man,'  but  falls  unsought.  The 
manner  of  the  healing  brings  out  very  clearly  its  divine 
source,  and  Paul's  part  as  being  simply  that  of  the 
channel  for  God's  power.  He  prays,  and  then  lays  his 
hands  on  the  sick  man.  There  are  no  words  assuring 
him  of  healing.  God  is  invoked,  and  then  His  power 
flows  through  the  hands  of  the  suppliant.  So  with  all 
our  work  for  men  in  bringing  the  better  cure  with 
which  we  are  entrusted,  we  are  but  channels  of  the 
blessing,  pipes  through  which  the  water  of  life  is 
brought  to  thirsty  lips.  Therefore  prayer  must  precede 
and  accompany  all  Christian  efforts  to  communicate 
the  healing  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  most  gifted  are  but, 
like  Paul,  *  ministers  through  whom '  faith  and  salva- 
tion come. 


374         ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxviii. 

The  argument  from  silence  is  precarious,  but  the 
entire  omission  of  notice  of  evangelistic  work  in  Melita 
is  noteworthy.  Probably  the  Apostle  as  a  prisoner 
was  not  free  to  preach  Christ  in  any  public  manner. 

Ancient  navigation  was  conducted  in  a  leisurely 
fashion  very  strange  to  us.  Three  months'  delay  in 
the  island,  rendered  necessary  by  wintry  storms,  would 
end  about  the  early  part  of  March,  when  the  season  for 
safe  sailing  began.  So  the  third  ship  which  was  used 
in  this  voyage  set  sail.  Luke  notices  its  '  sign '  as  being 
that  of  the  Twin  Brethren,  the  patrons  of  sailors, 
whose  images  were,  no  doubt,  displayed  on  the  bow, 
just  as  to-day  boats  in  that  region  often  have  a 
Madonna  nailed  on  the  mast.  Strange  conjunction — 
Castor  and  Pollux  on  the  prow,  and  Paul  on  the  deck  ! 

Puteoli,  on  the  bay  of  Naples,  was  the  landing-place, 
and  there,  after  long  confinement  with  uncongenial 
companions,  the  three  Christians,  Paul,  Aristarchus, 
and  Luke,  found  brethren.  We  can  understand  the  joy 
of  such  a  meeting,  and  can  almost  hear  the  narrative 
of  perils  which  would  be  poured  into  sympathetic  ears. 
Observe  that,  according  to  what  seems  the  true  read- 
ing, verse  14  says,  'We  were  consoled  among  them, 
remaining  seven  days.'  The  centurion  could  scarcely 
delay  his  march  to  please  the  Christians  at  Puteoli ; 
and  the  thought  that  the  Apostle,  whose  spirit  had 
never  flagged  while  danger  was  near  and  e£fort  was 
needed,  felt  some  tendency  to  collapse,  and  required 
cheering  when  the  strain  was  off,  is  as  natural  as  it  is 
pathetic. 

So  the  whole  company  set  off  on  their  march  to 
Rome — about  a  hundred  and  forty  miles.  The  week's 
delay  in  Puteoli  would  give  time  for  apprising  the 
church  in  Rome  of   the  Apostle's    coming,  and  two 


vs.  1-16]  AFTER  THE  WRECK  375 

parties  came  out  to  meet  him,  one  travelling  as  far  as 
Appii  Forum,  about  forty  Roman  miles  from  the  city  ; 
the  other  as  far  as  '  The  Three  Taverns,'  some  ten  miles 
nearer  it.  The  simple  notice  of  the  meeting  is  more 
touching  than  many  w^ords  would  have  been.  It 
brings  out  again  the  Apostle's  somewhat  depressed 
state,  partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  nervous  tension  during 
the  long  and  hazardous  voyage,  and  partly  to  his 
consciousness  that  the  decisive  moment  was  very  near. 
But  when  he  grasped  the  hands  and  looked  into  the 
faces  of  the  Roman  brethren,  whom  he  had  so  long 
hungered  to  see,  and  to  whom  he  had  poured  out  his 
heart  in  his  letter,  he  'thanked  God,  and  took  courage.' 
The  most  heroic  need,  and  are  helped  by,  the  sympathy 
of  the  humble.  Luther  was  braced  for  the  Diet  of 
Worms  by  the  knight  who  clapped  him  on  the  back 
as  he  passed  in  and  spoke  a  hearty  word  of  cheer. 

There  would  be  some  old  friends  in  the  delegation  of 
Roman  Christians,  perhaps  some  of  those  who  are 
named  in  Romans  xvi.,  such  as  Priscilla  and  Aquila, 
and  the  unnamed  matron,  Rufus's  mother,  whom  Paul 
there  calls  '  his  mother  and  mine.'  It  would  be  an  hour 
of  love  and  effusion,  and  the  shadow  of  appearing 
before  Csesar  would  not  sensibly  dim  the  brightness. 
Paul  saw  God's  hand  in  that  glad  meeting,  as  we  should 
do  in  all  the  sweetness  of  congenial  intercourse.  It  was 
not  only  because  the  welcomers  were  his  friends  that  he 
was  glad,  but  because  they  were  Christ's  friends  and 
servants.  The  Apostle  saw  in  them  the  evidence  that 
the  kingdom  was  advancing  even  in  the  world's  capital, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  Caesar's  throne,  and  that 
gladdened  him  and  made  him  forget  personal  anxieties. 
We  too  should  be  willing  to  sink  our  own  interests  in 
the  joy  of  seeing  the  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom. 


376        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.xxviii. 

Paul  turned  thankfulness  for  the  past  and  the 
present  into  calm  hope  for  the  future :  '  He  took 
courage.'  There  was  much  to  discourage  and  to 
excuse  tremors  and  forebodings,  but  he  had  God  and 
Christ  with  him,  and  therefore  he  could  front  the  un- 
certain future  without  flinching,  and  leave  all  its 
possibilities  in  God's  hands.  Those  who  have  such  a 
past  as  every  Christian  has  should  put  fear  far  from 
them,  and  go  forth  to  meet  any  future  with  quiet 
hearts,  and  minds  kept  in  perfect  peace  because  they 
are  stayed  on  God. 


THE  LAST  GLIMPSE  OF  PAUL 

'  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  after  three  days,  Paul  called  the  chief  of  the  Jews 
together:  and  when  they  were  come  together,  he  said  unto  them.  Men  and 
brethren,  though  I  have  committed  nothing  against  the  people  or  customs  of  our 
fathers,  yet  was  I  delivered  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans ;  18.  Who,  when  they  had  examined  me,  would  have  let  me  go,  because 
there  was  no  cause  of  death  in  me.  19.  But  when  the  Jews  spake  against  it,  I  was 
constrained  to  appeal  unto  Caesar ;  not  that  I  had  ought  to  accuse  my  nation  of. 
20.  For  this  cause  therefore  have  I  called  for  you,  to  see  you,  and  to  speak  with 
you :  because  that  for  the  hope  of  Israel  I  am  bound  with  this  chain,  21.  And 
they  said  unto  him.  We  neither  received  letters  out  of  Judsea  concerning  thee, 
neither  any  of  the  brethren  that  came  shewed  or  spake  any  harm  of  thee.  22.  But 
we  desire  to  hear  of  thee  what  thou  thinkest:  for  as  concerning  this  sect,  we 
know  that  everywhere  it  is  spoken  against.  23.  And  when  they  had  appointed 
him  a  day,  there  came  many  to  him  into  his  lodging ;  to  whom  he  expounded  and 
testified  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading  them  concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the 
law  of  Moses,  and  out  of  the  prophets,  from  morning  till  evening.  24.  And  some 
believed  the  things  which  were  spoken,  and  some  believed  not.  25.  And  when 
they  agreed  not  among  themselves,  they  departed,  after  that  Paul  had  spoken  one 
word,  Well  spake  the  Holy  Ghost  by  Esias  the  prophet  unto  our  fathers,  26. 
Saying,  Go  unto  this  people,  and  say.  Hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  shall  not  under- 
stand ;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not  perceive  :  27.  For  the  heart  of  this  people 
is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they 
closed ;  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  under- 
stand with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them.  28.  Be 
it  known  therefore  unto  you,  that  the  salvation  of  God  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles, 
and  that  they  will  hear  it.  29.  And  when  he  had  said  these  words,  the  Jews  departed, 
and  had  great  reasoning  among  themselves.  30.  And  Paul  dwelt  two  whole  years 
in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that  came  in  unto  him,  31.  Preaching 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him.'— Acts  xxviii.  17-31. 

We  have  here  our  last  certain  glimpse  of  Paul.    His 
ambition  had  long  been  to  preach  in  Rome,  but  he 


vs.  17-31]  THE  LAST  GLIMPSE  OF  PAUL  377 

little  knew  how  his  desire  was  to  be  fulj&lled.  "We  too 
are  often  surprised  at  the  shape  which  God's  answers  to 
our  wishes  take.  Well  for  us  if  we  take  the  unexpected 
or  painful  events  which  accomplish  some  long-cherished 
purpose  as  cheerfully  and  boldly  as  did  Paul.  We 
see  him  in  this  last  glimpse  as  the  centre  of  three 
concentric  widening  circles. 

I.  We  have  Paul  and  the  leaders  of  the  Roman 
synagogue.  He  was  not  the  man  to  let  the  grass  grow 
under  his  feet.  After  such  a  voyage  a  pause  would 
have  been  natural  for  a  less  eager  worker ;  but  three 
days  were  all  that  he  allowed  himself,  and  these  would, 
no  doubt,  be  largely  occupied  by  intercourse  with  the 
Roman  Christians,  and  with  the  multitude  of  little 
things  to  be  looked  after  on  entering  on  his  new 
lodging.  Paul  had  gifts  that  we  have  not,  he  exem- 
plified many  heroic  virtues  which  we  are  not  called  on 
to  repeat ;  but  he  had  eminently  the  prosaic  virtue  of 
diligence  and  persistence  in  work,  and  the  humblest 
life  affords  a  sphere  in  which  that  indispensable 
though  homely  excellence  of  his  can  be  imitated. 
What  a  long  holiday  some  of  us  would  think  we  had 
earned,  if  we  had  come  through  what  Paul  had  en- 
countered since  he  left  Csesarea ! 

The  summoning  of  the  '  chief  of  the  Jews '  to  him 
was  a  prudent  preparation  for  his  trial  rather  than 
an  evangelistic  effort.  It  was  important  to  ascertain 
their  feelings,  and  if  possible  to  secure  their  neutrality 
in  regard  to  the  approaching  investigation.  Hence  the 
Apostle  seeks  to  put  his  case  to  them  so  as  to  show  his 
true  adherence  to  the  central  principles  of  Judaism, 
insisting  that  he  is  guiltless  of  revolt  against  either 
the  nation  or  the  law  and  traditional  observances ; 
that  he  had  been  found  innocent  by  the  Palestinian 


378        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxviii. 

representatives  of  Roman  authority;  that  his  appeal 
to  Caesar,  which  would  naturally  seem  hostile  to  the 
rulers  in  Jerusalem,  was  not  meant  as  an  accusation 
of  the  nation  to  which  he  felt  himself  to  belong,  and 
so  was  no  sign  of  deficient  patriotism,  but  had  been 
forced  on  him  as  his  only  means  of  saving  his  life. 

It  was  a  difficult  course  which  he  had  to  steer,  and 
he  picked  his  way  between  the  shoals  with  marvellous 
address.  But  his  explanation  of  his  position  is  not 
only  a  skilful  piece  of  apologia,  but  it  embodies  one  of 
his  strongest  convictions,  which  it  is  worth  our  while 
to  grasp  firmly ;  namely,  that  Christianity  is  the  true 
fulfilment  and  perfecting  of  the  old  revelation.  His 
declaration  that,  so  far  from  his  being  a  deserter  from 
Israel,  he  was  a  prisoner  just  because  he  was  true  to 
the  Messianic  hope  which  was  Israel's  highest  glory, 
was  not  a  clever  piece  of  special  pleading  meant  for 
the  convincing  of  the  Roman  Jews,  but  was  a  prin- 
ciple which  runs  through  all  his  teaching.  Christians 
were  the  true  Jews.  He  was  not  a  recreant  in  con- 
fessing, but  they  were  deserters  in  denying,  the  fulfil- 
ment in  Jesus  of  the  hope  which  had  shone  before  the 
generation  of  'the  fathers.'  The  chain  which  bound 
him  to  the  legionary  who  'kept  him,'  and  which  he 
held  forth  as  he  spoke,  waff  the  witness  that  he  was 
still '  an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews.' 

The  heads  of  the  Roman  synagogue  went  on  the  tack 
of  non-committal,  as  was  quite  natural.  They  were 
much  too  astute  to  accept  at  once  an  ex  parte  state- 
ment, and  so  took  refuge  in  professing  ignorance. 
Probably  they  knew  a  good  deal  more  than  they 
owned.  Their  statement  has  been  called  '  unhistorical,' 
and,  oddly  enough,  has  been  used  to  discredit  Luke's 
narrative.    It  is  £(,  remarkable  canon  of  criticism  that 


vs  17-31]  THE  LAST  GLIMPSE  OF  PAUL  379 

a  reporter  is  responsible  for  the  truthfulness  of  asser- 
tions which  he  reports,  and  that,  if  he  has  occasion  to 
report  truthfully  an  untruth,  he  is  convicted  of  the 
untruth  which  he  truthfully  reports.  Luke  is  respon- 
sible for  telling  what  these  people  found  it  convenient 
to  say ;  they  are  responsible  for  its  veracity.  But  they 
did  not  say  quite  as  much  as  is  sometimes  supposed. 
As  the  Revised  Version  shows,  they  simply  said  that 
they  had  not  had  any  official  deputation  or  report 
about  Paul,  which  is  perfectly  probable,  as  it  was 
extremely  unlikely  that  any  ship  leaving  after  Paul's 
could  have  reached  Italy.  They  may  have  known  a 
great  deal  about  him,  but  they  had  no  information  to 
act  upon  about  his  trial.  Their  reply  is  plainly  shaped 
so  as  to  avoid  expressing  any  definite  opinion  or 
pledging  themselves  to  any  course  of  action  till  they 
do  hear  from  'home.' 

They  are  politely  cautious,  but  they  cannot  help 
letting  out  some  of  their  bile  in  their  reference  to 
'  this  sect.'  Paul  had  said  nothing  about  it,  and  their 
allusion  betrays  a  fuller  knowledge  of  him  and  it  than 
it  suited  their  plea  for  delay  to  own.  Their  wish  to 
hear  what  he  thought  sounded  very  innocent  and 
impartial,  but  was  scarcely  the  voice  of  candid  seekers 
after  truth.  They  must  have  known  of  the  existence 
of  the  Roman  Church,  which  included  many  Jews,  and 
they  could  scarcely  be  ignorant  of  the  beliefs  on  which 
it  was  founded ;  but  they  probably  thought  that  they 
would  hear  enough  from  Paul  in  the  proposed  con- 
ference to  enable  them  to  carry  the  synagogue  with 
them  in  doing  all  they  could  to  procure  his  condemna- 
1:on.  He  had  hoped  to  secure  at  least  their  neutrality ; 
they  seem  to  have  been  preparing  to  join  his  enemies. 
The  request  for  full  e:^pogition  of  Si.  prisoner's  belief 


380        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxvm. 

has  often  been  but  a  trap  to  ensure  his  martyrdom. 
But  we  have  to  '  be  ready  to  give  to  every  man  a  reason 
for  the  hope  that  is  in  us,'  even  when  the  motive  for 
asking  it  may  be  anything  but  the  sincere  desire  to 
learn. 

II.  Therefore  Paul  was  willing  to  lay  his  heart's 
belief  open,  whatever  doing  so  might  bring.  So  the 
second  circle  forms  round  him,  and  we  have  him 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  '  many '  of  the  Jews.  He  could 
not  go  to  the  synagogue,  so  much  of  the  synagogue 
came  to  him.  The  usual  method  was  pursued  by  Paul 
in  arguing  from  the  old  revelation,  but  we  may  note 
the  twofold  manner  of  his  preaching, '  testifying '  and 
•  persuading,'  the  former  addressed  more  to  the  under- 
standing, and  the  latter  to  the  affections  and  will,  and 
may  learn  how  Christian  teachers  should  seek  to  blend 
both — to  work  their  arguments,  not  in  frost,  but  in 
fire,  and  not  to  bully  or  scold  or  frighten  men  into  the 
Kingdom,  but  to  draw  them  with  cords  of  love.  Per- 
suasion without  a  basis  of  solid  reasoning  is  puerile 
and  impotent ;  reasoning  without  the  warmth  of  per- 
suasion is  icy  cold,  and  therefore  nothing  grows 
from  it. 

Note  too  the  protracted  labour  *from  morning  till 
evening.'  One  can  almost  see  the  eager  disputants 
spending  the  livelong  day  over  the  rolls  of  the 
prophets,  relays  of  Rabbis,  perhaps,  relieving  one 
another  in  the  assault  on  the  one  opponent's  position, 
and  he  holding  his  ground  through  all  the  hours — a 
pattern  for  us  teachers  of  all  degrees. 

The  usual  effects  followed.  The  multitude  was  sifted 
by  the  Gospel,  as  its  hearers  always  are,  some  accept- 
ing and  some  rejecting.  These  double  effects  ever 
follow  it,  and  to  one  or  other  of  these  two  classes  we 


vs.17-31]  THE  LAST  GLIMPSE  OF  PAUL  881 

each  belong.  The  same  fire  melts  wax  and  hardens 
clay ;  the  same  light  is  joy  to  sound  eyes  and  agony  to 
diseased  ones ;  the  same  word  is  a  savour  of  life  unto 
life  and  a  savour  of  death  unto  death ;  the  same  Christ 
is  set  for  the  fall  and  for  the  rising  of  men,  and  is  to 
some  the  sure  foundation  on  which  they  build  secure, 
and  to  some  the  stone  on  which,  stumbling,  they  are 
broken,  and  which,  falling  ou  them,  grinds  them  to 
powder. 

Paul's  solemn  farewell  takes  up  Isaiah's  words, 
already  used  by  Jesus.  It  is  his  last  recorded  utter- 
ance to  his  brethren  after  the  flesh,  weighty,  and  full 
of  repressed  yearning  and  sorrow.  It  is  heavy  with 
prophecy,  and  marks  an  epoch  in  the  sad,  strange 
history  of  that  strange  nation.  Israel  passes  out  of 
sight  with  that  dread  sentence  fastened  to  its  breast, 
like  criminals  of  old,  on  whose  front  was  fixed  the 
record  of  their  crimes  and  their  condemnation.  So 
this  tragic  self-exclusion  from  hope  and  life  is  the  end 
of  all  that  wondrous  history  of  ages  of  divine  revela- 
tion and  patience,  and  of  man's  rebellion.  The  Gospel 
passes  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Jew  shuts  himself  out. 
So  it  has  been  for  nineteen  centuries.  Was  not  that 
scene  in  Paul's  lodging  in  Rome  the  end  of  an  epoch 
and  the  prediction  of  a  sad  future  ? 

III.  Not  less  significant  and  epoch-making  is  the 
glimpse  of  Paul  which  closes  the  Acts.  We  have  the 
third  concentric  circle — Paul  and  the  multitudes  who 
came  to  his  house  and  heard  the  Gospel.  We  note  two 
points  here.  First,  that  his  unhindered  preaching  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  world's  capital  for  two  whole 
years  is,  in  one  aspect,  the  completion  of  the  book.  As 
Bengel  tersely  says, '  The  victory  of  the  word  of  God, 
Paul  at  Rome.    The  apex  of  the  Gospel,  the  end  of  Acts.' 


382        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxviii. 

But,  second,  as  clearly,  the  ending  is  abrupt,  and  is 
not  a  satisfying  close.  The  lengthened  account  of  the 
whole  process  of  Paul's  imprisonments  and  hearings 
before  the  various  Roman  authorities  is  most  unin- 
telligible if  Luke  intended  to  break  off  at  the  very 
crucial  point,  and  say  nothing  about  the  event  to 
which  he  had  been  leading  up  for  so  many  chapters. 
There  is  much  probability  in  Ramsay's  suggestion  that 
Luke  intended  to  write  a  third  book,  containing  the 
account  of  the  trial  and  subsequent  events,  but  was 
prevented  by  causes  unknown,  perhaps  by  martyrdom. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  these  two  verses,  with  some  informa- 
tion pieced  out  of  the  Epistles  written  during  the 
imprisonment,  are  all  that  we  know  of  Paul's  life  in 
Rome.  From  Philippians  we  learn  that  the  Gospel 
spread  by  reason  of  the  earlier  stages  of  his  trial. 
From  the  other  Epistles  we  can  collect  some  particulars 
of  his  companions,  and  of  the  oversight  which  he  kept 
up  of  the  Churches. 

The  picture  here  drawn  lays  hold,  not  on  anything 
connected  with  his  trial,  but  on  his  evangelistic  acti- 
vity, and  shows  us  how,  notwithstanding  all  hindrances, 
anxieties  about  his  fate,  weariness,  and  past  toils,  the 
flame  of  evangelistic  fervour  burned  undimmed  in 
'Paul  the  aged,'  as  the  flame  of  mistaken  zeal  had 
burned  in  the  'young  man  named  Saul,'  and  how  the 
work  which  had  filled  so  many  years  of  wandering 
and  homelessness  was  carried  on  with  all  the  old  joy- 
fulness,  confidence,  and  success,  from  the  prisoner's 
lodging.  In  such  unexpected  fashion  did  God  fulfil  the 
Apostle's  desire  to  '  preach  the  Gospel  to  you  that  are 
at  Rome  also.'  To  preach  the  word  with  all  boldness 
is  the  duty  of  us  Christians  who  have  entered  into  the 
heritage  of  fuller  freedom  than  Paul's,  and  of  whom 


vs.  30, 31]  PAUL  IN  ROME  383 

it  is  truer  than  of  him  that  we  can  do  it,  *  no  man 
forbidding'  us. 


PAUL  IN  ROME 

And  Paul  dwelt  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that 
came  in  unto  him,  31.  Preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teacbing  those  things 
which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding 
him.'— Acts  xxviii.  30,  31. 

So  ends  this  book.  It  stops  rather  than  ends.  Many- 
reasons  might  be  suggested  for  closing  here.  Probably 
the  simplest  is  the  best,  that  nothing  more  is  said  for 
nothing  more  had  yet  been  done.  Probably  the  book 
was  written  during  these  two  years.  This  abrupt  close 
suggests  several  noteworthy  thoughts. 

I.  The  true  theme  of  the  book. 

How  convenient  if  Luke  had  told  us  a  little  more! 
But  Paul's  history  is  unfinished,  like  Peter's  and  John's. 
This  book's  treatment  of  all  the  Apostles  teaches,  as 
we  have  often  had  to  remark,  that  Christ  and  His 
acts  are  its  true  subject. 

We  are  wise  if  we  learn  the  lesson  of  keeping  all 
human  teachers,  even  a  Paul,  in  their  inferior  place, 
and  if  we  say  of  each  of  them:  'He  was  not  the 
Light,  but  came  that  he  might  bear  witness  of  the 
Light.' 

II.  God's  unexpected  and  unwelcome  ways  of  ful- 
filling our  desires,  and  His  purposes. 

It  had  long  been  Paul's  dream  to  '  see  Rome.'  How 
little  he  knew  the  steps  by  which  his  dream  was  to  be 
fulfilled!  He  told  the  Ephesian  elders  that  he  was 
going  up  to  Jerusalem  under  compulsion  of  the  Spirit, 
and  'not  knowing  the  things  that  should  befall  him 
there,'  except  that  he  was  certain  of  'bonds  and 
imprisonment.'     He  did  not    know  that    these  were 


384        ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  [ch.  xxviii. 

God's  way  of  bringing  him  to  Rome.  Jewish  fury, 
Roman  statecraft  and  law-abidingness,  two  years  of  a 
prison,  a  stormy  voyage,  a  shipwreck,  led  him  to  his 
long-wished-for  goal.  God  uses  even  man's  malice  and 
opposition  to  the  Gospel  to  advance  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel.  Men,  like  coral  insects,  build  their  little  bit, 
all  unaware  of  the  whole  of  which  it  is  a  part,  but  the 
reef  rises  above  the  waves  and  ocean  breaks  against  it 
in  vain. 

So  we  may  gather  lessons  of  submission,  of  patient 
acceptance  of  apparently  adverse  circumstances,  and  of 
quiet  faith  that  He  who  '  makes  stormy  winds  to  fulfil 
His  word  and  flaming  fires  His  ministers,'  will  bend  to 
the  carrying  out  of  His  designs  all  things,  be  they 
seemingly  friendly  or  hostile,  and  will  realise  our 
dreams,  if  in  accordance  with  His  will,  even  through 
events  which  seem  to  shatter  them.  Let  us  trust  and 
be  patient  till  we  see  the  issues  of  events. 

III.  The  world's  mistaken  estimate  of  greatness. 

Who  was  the  greatest  man  in  Rome  at  that  hour? 
Not  the  Csesar  but  the  poor  Jewish  prisoner.  How 
astonished  both  would  have  been  if  they  had  been  told 
the  truth!  The  two  kingdoms  were,  so  to  speak,  set 
face  to  face  in  these  two,  their  representatives,  and 
neither  of  them  knew  his  own  relative  importance.  The 
Csesar  was  all  unaware  that,  for  all  his  legions  and  his 
power,  he  was  but  *  a  noise  ' ;  Paul  was  as  unconscious 
that  he  was  incomparably  the  most  powerful  of  the 
influences  that  were  then  at  work  in  the  world.  The 
haughty  and  stolid  eyes  of  Romans  saw  in  him  nothing 
but  a  prisoner,  sent  up  from  a  turbulent  subject  land 
on  some  obscure  charge,  a  mere  nobody.  The  crowds 
in  forum  and  amphitheatre  would  have  laughed  at  any 
one  who  had  pointed  to  that  humble  *  hired  house,'  and 


vs.  30, 31]  PAUL  IN  ROME  385 

said, '  There  lodges  a  man  who  bears  a  word  that  will 
shatter  and  remould  the  city,  the  Empire,  the  world.' 

Let  us  have  confidence  in  the  greatness  of  the 
word,  though  the  world  may  be  deaf  to  its  music  and 
blind  to  its  power,  and  let  us  never  fear  to  ally  our- 
selves with  a  cause  which  we  know  to  be  God's, 
however  it  may  be  unpopular  and  made  light  of  by  the 
'  leaders  of  opinion.' 

IV.  The  true  relation  between  the  Church  and  the 
State. 

*  None  forbidding  him '  marks  a  great  step  forward. 
Paul's  unhindered  freedom  of  speech  in  Rome  itself 
marks  'the  victory  of  the  word,  the  apex  of  the 
Gospel.'  The  neutral  attitude  of  the  imperial  power 
was,  indeed,  broken  by  subsequent  persecutions,  but 
we  may  say  that  on  the  whole  Rome  let  Christianity 
alone.  That  is  the  best  service  that  the  State  can 
render  to  the  Church.  Anything  more  is  help  which 
encumbers  and  is  harmful  to  the  true  spiritual  power 
of  the  Gospel.  The  real  requirement  which  it  makes 
on  the  civil  power  is  simply  what  the  Greek  philoso- 
pher asked  of  the  king  who  was  proffering  his  good 
offices,  •  Stand  out  of  the  sunshine  I ' 


VOL.  IT.  2  b 


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BS491.M16  44V.2 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00058  9566 


